cover image One Christmas

One Christmas

Canna Funakoshi, Yoji Izawa. Picture Book Studio Ltd, $12.95 (1pp) ISBN 978-0-88708-140-8

A companion to One Morning and One Evening , this understated picture book shares the quiet grace and drama of those volumes. Richly colored and delicately balanced illustrations set off exquisitely spare text: the images are often truncated, with faces or the letters of signs unapologetically omitted; similarly, the story is relayed through poetically fragmented phrases. A young man receives a Christmas card: `` `Come home, my dear.' '' He wanders through empty city streets, the illustrations imply, hearing ``Christmas songs from everywhere.'' A few sepia-colored pictures hint at his childhood memories; then he chooses a present, packs up his cat and boards a train. He alights at his hometown (``just as I remember'') in time to celebrate the holiday with friends and family. Radiant, lyrical, suggestive, both story and artwork are distinguished by an elegant simplicity. Ages 3-up. (Oct.)