These are not your ordinary stories!

Ideal for reading aloud, these stories of monsters, monks, and magical talking animals are guaranteed to delight and engage young children. Surprising, funny, and unusual fables introduce a variety of characters of various temperaments, skills, personalities, and cleverness- characters that can be seen in Japanese miniature carvings called netsuke. Netsuke are an intricate and specialized form of carving, and have existed in Japan for hundreds of years. In this beautiful book, eleven exquisite netsuke carvings come alive for children through vivid storytelling, colorful illustrations and detailed photography. This is a book to read many times.

• Striking illustrations of nine imaginative stories
• Plots with twists and turns
• A variety of characters to engage curious children
• Large photographs of beautiful netsuke carvings

This book is ideal for children and adults who are interested in:

• myths, folktales & fables
• Japanese culture and art
• reading aloud
• magical animals
• characters and behavior
• a variety of personalities
• tricksters & cunning
• monsters
• friendship
• good deeds
• collectibles
• figurines
• carving