The Bee and the Dream: A Japanese Tale

This quietly charged retelling of a Japanese folktale builds on a tantalizing premise, that dreams do not always belong to their dreamers. As hardworking peasants Shin and Tasuke rest on a hillside, fidgety Shin watches his friend nap and is shocked to see a bee fly out of his nose. Shin's amazement at this odd occurrence recedes when he hears Tasuke's marvelous dream of a jar of gold buried in a certain faraway garden. Unable to convince Tasuke of the dream's significance, Shin offers to buy it. Then he embarks on the perilous journey to the garden, where a greedy aristocrat beats him to the jar and lets loose its contents--a swarm of bees. When the dejected Shin returns home, his exultant wife tells him of ""angry bees"" that flew through the house and left in their wake a drift of treasures. Newcomer Long's characters express a guileless humanity; Ono, a Japanese illustrator making her American debut, adds humor through her paintings' playful, fluid lines. A Japanese saying at the beginning of the tale, that it's lucky to see a bee fly from someone's nose, may mystify American readers, but the conclusion, ""If good fortune is meant for you, no matter what happens, it will be yours,"" is at once appealingly clear and mystical. Ages 6-9. (June)