As a young Japanese boy recovers from a bad chill, his mother busily folds origami paper into delicate silver cranes in preparation for the boy's very first Christmas. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Heedless of Mama's warnings, a Japanese boy cannot resist playing at an ice-cold pond ``filled with carp of bright colors.'' When he comes home, he is immediately treated for a cold, with a hot bath and rice gruel. His mother's attitude chills him more than the weather, though; he cannot understand why she seems to be ignoring him. Hearing a noise in the garden, the boy spies Mama digging up the pine tree that was planted when he was born. She brings it inside and decorates it with paper cranes and candles. It is a Christmas tree, the first for the boy, and the first in many years for his mother, who tells her son she comes from ``a warm place called Ca-li-for-ni-a.'' The story is a poignant one, illuminated with finely drawn illustrations reflecting the serenity of a Japanese home and the quiet love between mother and son. Say ( The Bicycle Man ; El Chino ), who came to this country from Japan when he was a teenager, again exhibits a laudable sensitivity to Eastern and Western cultures--and to both the differences and the similarities between them. Ages 4-8. Copyright 1991 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Ages 4-8. Chilled to the bone from playing in a forbidden pond, a young Japanese boy arrives home expecting a scolding from his mother. Instead, he finds her distracted, busily folding tiny paper cranes. With little more than a glance, she sends him off to bathe, eat his dinner, and go to bed. He's puzzled by her mild rebuke and longs for her company. Later, when he sees her outdoors digging up the tree she and his father planted at his birth, he can't help wondering whether he is the cause of her strange mood. When she explains that the tree, which she's decorated with the delicate cranes, reminds her of Christmases she spent as a child in California, he's as much relieved as he is fascinated by the history she reveals. Infused with gentle nostalgia, the quiet, graciously told picture book is a perfect blend of text and art. Fine-lined and handsome, Say's watercolors not only capture fascinating details of the boy's far away home--his tall, wooden tub, his futon, his mother's tiny tree--but also depict, with simple grace, the rich and complex bond between mother and child that underlies the story. (Reviewed Sept. 15, 1991)039552024XStephanie Zvirin From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.