cover image Little Daruma and Little Daikoku: A Japanese Children's Tale

Little Daruma and Little Daikoku: A Japanese Children's Tale

Satoshi Kako. Tuttle Publishing, $10.95 (32pp) ISBN 978-0-8048-3351-6

Little Daruma and Little Daikoku by Satoshi Kako, trans. from the Japanese by Richard McNamara and Peter Howlett, follows their previous Little Daruma books across the Pacific. Here, Little Daruma envies Little Daikoku's magic mallet (a traditional toy in Japan), which delivers a shower of treats when shaken. ""Shake the magic mallet"" the two chant, ""Shakey shakey, shake, shake./ Make a wish for what you want,/ Wishy, wishy, wish, wish. Hey!"" Once again, Little Daruma tries to replicate the object of envy, but his greed causes problems. Only when the two cooperate does Little Daruma get his wish.