THE ROLLING RICE BALL

by Junichi Yoda ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A

The rolling rice ball goes into a mouse hole and starts a mouse singing, so the old man rolls in his second and his third, bringing a mouse to the entrance with an invitation to visit the mouse demesne underground--all of which is comical per se and boldly pictured, making this Japanese variant of a familiar plot uncommonly suitable for preschoolers. The familiar part follows as the old man's greedy neighbor is undone trying to get a reward like the one he brings back; but the depiction of that undoing--the offender forced to dig his way up in the dark while the mice leave by their tunnel and his wife waits with a stick--provides a punchy ending. In fact it tends toward Punch and Judy buffoonery all the way.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Parents' Magazine Press

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1969

Categories: CHILDREN'S