The Funny Little Woman

The Funny Little Woman is a model of what a superb picture book can be--a perfect matching of art and text.  The story, as retold by Arlene Mosel from the Lafcadio Hearn version, concerns a little woman in Old Japan, who makes rice dumplings and has a proclivity for laughing and giving herself away.  Suddenly a wayward dumping evades her and the little woman's subsequent search for it leads her to a strange road under the earth.  Despite attempts by statues of the gods to protect her from evil underground spirits, the oni, she can't help laughing and giving herself away.  The illustrations in acrylic colors, muted here, sparkling there, all contribute to the magical mood of the tale.