A TIME FOR FLOWERS

Taro and his sister Michi are downcast: flowers are growing in the fields, flowers are on sale at the market, but father will not let them help: ""He says we are too little."" Grandfather has a plan: they will make a garden of their own. Days of sun and days of rain later, the garden blooms and the three celebrate, but while they are dancing Grand-father's glasses bounce off and break and there is no money for anew pair. Without disclosing their purpose, Taro and Michi persuade Father to Sell their flowers at the market, then become accidental Stowaways in the truck; fearing his anger, they steal away and make a stand of their own, but no one notices them or their flowers until a stern guard appears. Father is summoned, explanations follow, and the manager buys the flowers--""So everything turned out Well after all."" The plot is Formula B but the cheerful illustrations of a Japanese (?) family, of the children surrounded by a floral sea make a book that has instant eye appeal. Los Angeles is the unmentioned but obvious locale, there it ma take root, elsewhere it's likely to fade quickly.