Synopsis
More than a thousand years after being lost at sea, three preserved lotus seeds are found and brought to the Emperor of Japan, who sends one on a journey to America, where it ...
School Library Journal
K-Gr 2-During a Pacific Ocean typhoon 1000 years ago, a bag of lotus seeds being transported by a Japanese farmer in a wooden boat sinks to the bottom of the sea. Over the years, some of them make their way into a marshy bog in shallow water. Then, a modern-day peat farmer finds three rocks that look like seeds. He chips away at one of them, finds a seed, and soaks it in a bowl of water. He takes the other two to the emperor, who brings in his wise men to determine how the seeds could be encased in stone and still live. The emperor sprouts the second seed. He gives the third one to Isamu Taniguchi, who brings it to America and plants it. Today, the lotus flowers from this seed are on view at the Taniguchi Oriental Garden in Austin, TX. Darr's lush, ethereal, full-page watercolors are placed opposite blue-tinted pages of irregularly spaced text framed by a brush-stroke and lotus-flower border. While some of the illustrations suit the magical quality of the text, some of the human representations are indistinct and flat.-DeAnn Tabuchi, San Anselmo Public Library, CA Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.