The Boy from the Dragon Palace: A Folktale from Japan (review)

This Japanese folktale features a flower seller who, after a slow day, offers his leftover flowers to the Dragon King, who lives in the sea. The Dragon King rewards the man by bequeathing him a "snot-nosed little boy" who, if fed his favorite shrimp, grants wishes. The flower seller first asks for gold, then a palace, a staff of servants, and whatever else he desires. In time, he has everything he could possibly wish for but still must prepare shrimp each day for the boy; sick of the task and the kid, the flower seller locks the boy out, only to find that the magic immediately undoes itself and leaves him back where he started. There is some real child appeal in the boy's wish granting, particularly as it involves an elaborate ritual wherein he wipes his snotty nose first on one sleeve, then the other, then blows "HNNNK! HNNNK! HNNNK!," and those sharing the story aloud will have a particularly good time with this routine. Unfortunately, the ending falls a little flat, and the narrative lacks much of the cadence typical of MacDonald's works; though occasionally punched up by a snot explosion, it is somewhat dry for reading aloud. Yoshikawa's digitally enhanced collage and watercolor compositions feature the most clean-faced snotty kid ever, wasting the opportunity for some good kid-appealing grossness, but the art is otherwise inviting, tempering the strong colors with a soft, dappled fade in color planes and at edges. A source note, citing several anthologies of Japanese folklore, is included.