Dorobo the Dangerous

Vaughan ( Wombat Stew ) sets this addition to the Animal Fair series in Japan, where each day Crane sings a merry ditty (the score is provided) to the fish swimming in her pond: ``How I love my fine, fat fishies. / Divey, dippy, splashy, splishy. / Fish is my favorite breakfast dishy. / Two, four, six, eight fish.'' But a sly fox named Dorobo begins sneaking down from Mount Fuji each night to steal a fish, until poor Crane has but one left. She sets off to seek the advice of Saru the monkey, who is ``as old as the moon and as wise as the world.'' Along the way, Crane encounters a rock, a slick snail, a broken sword, a rotten egg and a piece of bark--and tucks each item under her wing when it promises to help her apprehend the thief. After Saru confirms that these items are, indeed, exactly what she needs in order to catch Dorobo, an amusing chain reaction accomplishes that feat and brings Vaughan's story to a cheerful close. Deserving considerable credit for the book's success is Stone's boldly colored, stylized art, which skillfully evokes the setting of this crisply told tale. Ages 2-8. (June)