The Two Foolish Cats - Hardcover

PreSchool-Grade 3 In this story suggested by a Japanese trickster tale, two cats, Big Daizo and Little Suki, are unsuccessful at finding breakfast. On their way home, they find two rice cakes in the reeds by the edge of the stream. Of course, one is big and plump and the other very small. The snarling, hissing, spitting fight over which cat should have the bigger rice cake draws the badger from the forest to scold the cats and send them to the wise old monkey to settle their quarrel. In typical trickster fashion the monkey ends the dispute by weighing and munching, weighing and munching until both rice cakes are equally gone. This telling just misses that magical quality of language which creates vivid images, and Zemach's illustrations do not give the story the life that it deserves. The soft tones of the watercolors at times seem overburdened with the dark outlines of trees, drawing attention away from the main action, and the details do not always match the text. Children will search in vain for the seven toes on each of Daizo's paws and will wonder why the birds and mice who are supposed to be frightened by the cats follow them so closely or why the cats do not appear wet as they emerge from the stream. The main characters are more crudely drawn than the portly robed badger and the mischievous monkey. On some pages Suki looks as much like a dog, a rodent, or a rabbit with a long tail as a cat. Overall, the illustrations lack the humor which is the essence of the trickster tale. Kay E. Vandergrift, School of Communication, Information and Library Studies, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, N.J.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Uchida tells the story suggested by a Japanese folktale of two cats who are friends. The small birds and animals living in the Japanese pine forest fear the cats because they consume prey in a mouthful. One day the cats are having no luck finding a meal. In the forest they see two rice cakes, one larger than the other, and argue over who should have it. The cats go to a wise old monkey to settle the dispute, but he whittles the cakes down, trying to make them the same size, and eventually finishes both rice cakes himself. Uchida's telling is as lyrical as that of her longer novels. Zemach, with her marvelous versatility in depicting various cultures, triumphs with these Japanese-style watercolors. Ages 48. (April
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.