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Susan Lendroth, illustrated by Kathryn Otoshi,
Maneki Neko: The Tale of the Beckoning Cat
Shen’s Books, 2010.

Ages 4-8

The story behind the now ubiquitous good-luck symbol of a white beckoning cat, or Maneki Neko, is well known in its native Japan, and Susan Lendroth’s retelling accompanied by Kathryn Otoshi’s atmospheric illustrations is a welcome addition to the versions of the story available in English.

A poor monk welcomes a little white cat into his simple monastery. He shares what he has with her, naming her Tama, which we learn in a glossary at the end means “round, like a ball, coin etc.” Time passes until one day there is a storm with “Buckets and barrels and rivers of water”. Tama’s attempts to wash are ineffectual in the driving rain, but when a passing samurai spots her from his shelter under a pine tree, Tama appears to be beckoning him towards the shrine. Curious, the samurai moves closer. Then, just as he reaches the gate, a flash of lightening strikes the pine tree, setting it alight: the Beckoning Cat has saved his life. In gratitude, the samurai rewards the monk, transforming the simple monastery to Gotokuji Temple, as it is known today. The monk shares his good fortune with the villagers, and Tama lives out her days growing plumper under their admiring eyes.

Lendroth’s writing has a poetic turn of phrase that makes this a very satisfying readaloud. After setting the scene of Tama and the monk’s tranquil day-to-day life, the pace quickens, heightening the dramatic effect of the storm. Both Lendroth and Otoshi clearly love cats and both the narrative and the illustrations show keen observation of and empathy with feline habits. Otoshi intersperses vigorous images following the action of the story with almost meditative depictions of the shrine and its surroundings that evoke silhouettes viewed through Japanese rice paper shoji screens – even, wittily, when the monk had the “shoji screens opened wide to the night air.” Pinks and blues predominate, and shadows and reflections intensify the contrast between the solidly depicted protagonists and their collage-like backdrops.

With its subtheme of the importance of sharing good fortune, as well as seeking it through buying one of the “thousands of cats waving on thousands of shop counters” around the world, Maneki Neko is a particularly appealing retelling of the legend, relevant to young readers everywhere.

Marjorie Coughlan
August 2011

It’s a cold, wintery New Year’s Day and an elderly couple must sell the wife’s heirloom wedding kimono to buy the rice cakes they need to eat for “good fortune to smile on us”. On his way to market, the old man passes six statues of Jizo, the protector of children. he carefully brushes the snow off them, telling them about the reasons for his journey as he does so. After a series of trading transactions, he finds himself at the end of the day not with the desired rice cakes but five bamboo hats.

He returns home and on his way, again passes the statues. He carefully ties the bamboo hats on the heads of the statues to protect them from the snow; and he ties his own hat under the chin of the sixth statue. Returning empty-handed to his wife, he apologises while telling her all that has happened: she replies that she is proud of him.

Later, after they have gone to bed, they hear a noise outside and discover an enormous rice cake at their door – and in the distance, the six Jizo statues walking away in single file… That New Year the celebrations were unforgettable!

This lovely story, Bamboo Hats and a Rice Cake, has been adapted from Japanese folklore by Ann Tompert, and gorgeously illustrated by Demi (who features in our current Gallery – do take a look if you haven’t already, her Q&A is fascinating). It is perfect for this time of year and is a lovely book to share – not just because of the beauty that shines from both the story and the pages of the book, but also because the English narrative incorporates Japanese characters for key words like kimono, rice-cake(s), bamboo hat(s) etc. The key extends down the side of the page and I can vouch for the delight of a small person inserting the correct word at the right moment, while the story is being read to them!

All in all, the book is a delight – Ann Tompert’s narrative is expressive and gentle and Demi has depicted lots of tiny vignettes to explore. Little Brother also loved the way the statues stood very statue-like but could move their eyes to watch the old man, and could smile. We have so much snow here at the moment, too, that this has been our perfect New Year book this year. What about you? What have you been reading with your children (at home, in class or at your library) to welcome in the New Year?