Free Kid to Good Home

A girl clad in a white shirt and a big red bow meets her baby brother, Daichan, who looks “just like a potato,” for the first time in this humorous comic. Less than impressed, she runs away from home to find a family who appreciates her, “with parents who will love me, and only me.” After finding a cardboard box and penning “Free Kid” on the side, she attempts to attract a new family by tooting a horn and waving flags proclaiming “cute kid!” Her methods bear no fruit, so she waits patiently (“No one’s going to feel sorry for a kid who’s dancing”), and is soon joined by a dog, cat, and turtle. When her companions are taken in and the girl is left alone, she begins to suspect it wouldn’t be so bad being a big sister to a potato. Simple line drawings with bold red accents against a white background provide visual gentleness, and the narrative recalls Shel Silverstein’s poem “One Sister for Sale.” In his first English translated work, Ito’s deadpan humor and the characters’ emotive facial expressions inject jocularity in a welcome exploration of the anxiety that some children face in response to siblinghood. Ages 5–9. (May)