Today on the blog, Jackie Friedman Mighdoll reviews book one in a new trilogy from Japan. Introducing Sato the Rabbit by Yuki Ainoya, translated from Japanese [Japan] by Michael and Shizuka Blaskowsky (Enchanted Lion)

By Jackie Friedman Mighdoll

On the cover, a little boy in a rabbit suit and boots sits in what looks like a hole in a pink sky as clouds drift by. It’s got a little bit of real – boots and clouds and a boy’s face – and plenty of whimsy. I’m not sure I understand where it’s going, and yet I’m drawn in all the same. And that, I think, sums up the whole book in a nutshell. (The nutshells in this book – and there are actual nutshells in this book – turn out to have bakeries and warm baths in them! But that is a different story.) 

The book starts with a two-page spread that explains: “One day, Haneru Sato became a rabbit. He’s been a rabbit ever since.” From there the reader follows Sato on seven different mini adventures.

Each adventure starts out with a few spreads grounded more or less in reality. Sato waters the garden in the first story. We follow the hose behind the house, through the woods to the pond. And that’s where we turn the page to the surreal – a pond with puffed out cheeks and small blue arms blows water through the hose. When Sato is finished watering he shoots the water into the sky making a rainbow, and the pond goes back to its small self. The end.

A similar whimsical pattern is repeated. Each story starts with Sato doing a more or less normal activity. He does laundry. He eats watermelon. He cracks open walnuts. He goes for a walk to an observatory. And then each story takes a turn and Sato has a fantastical, almost-poetic, experience. He catches stars, he rides a watermelon, he opens a puddle to find a window to the sky.

The illustrations with their saturated colors and fun details enhance the poetic feel. Sato swims in the bright teal sea next to his hot pink watermelon boat. He wears a bathing suit that matches the green striped rind; a whale spouts in the distance.

This is a world that I would love to step into where the forest ice is full of feelings and colors and stories. A beautiful world for young readers.

For translators: Sato the Rabbit was originally published in Japanese. Translators Michael and Shizuka Blaskowsky read the Japanese version to their son, fell in love with it, and brought it to the attention of Enchanted Lion, publisher of the Chirri and Chirra book. Enchanted Lion will publish all three books in the Sato series this year. There’s a great interview with the Blaskowskys on the Enchanted Lion blog where they talk about their process.