Kozo the Sparrow

Drawing this story from his experiences as a child in post-WWII rural Japan, per an author’s note, Say (Miss Irwin) offers a tender narrative about a youth who saves a baby sparrow from a group of village bullies. Though the protagonist usually runs from “the three bad boys,” they become interested when one holds, then pokes at, at a young bird: “Just then I wanted the tiny baby more than anything in the world.” The narrator bargains hard for it and names it Kozo (meaning “Little Boy”), working out how to help it survive (“Just like a mother bird I put the rice in his throat and he swallowed”). The two discover how to play together (over a cold noodle, “I pulled and he pulled back”), the child refuses to clip the sparrow’s wings, and the wild bird wins over both the youth’s mother and classroom teacher, who invites the protagonist to bring Kozo to school. Though the end to this childhood idyll is sharp and unexpected, the portrait of devotion makes the buildup all the more meaningful, and softly colored pen, ink, and watercolor vignettes give delight to the brief relationship between child and sparrow. Ages 4–8. (Oct.)