Ten Oni Drummers

by Matthew Gollub, Kazuko Stone (Illustrator)

Overview

In this playful, rhyming story, young children find reassurance and comfort for their fears when scary dreams come their way. Through art and story, children also learn about Japanese taiko drumming and the Japanese words and characters for the numbers one to ten.

At dusk, on a beach in Japan, a young boy falls asleep and begins to dream, but soon he has company—a tiny oni, creeping up from the sand. Throughout the night, one by one, more oni appear, until there are ten in all, and they grow bigger, too. They begin beating their taiko drums, louder and louder. They play games, have a big meal, and eventually chase away the boy's scary dreams.

With bright watercolor paintings, Stone draws on the folk culture of her native Japan to portray the monsters as both frightening and funny. A delightful read-aloud that's part counting exercise and part bedtime story!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643797168
Publisher:	Lee & Low Books
Publication date:	11/19/2024
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	10.25(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.50(d)
Age Range:	4 - 7 Years

About the Author

Matthew Gollub is a multi-talented children's book author and speaker. He has produced more than twenty picture books, including his award-winning Jazz Fly series with audio. A dynamic drummer and bilingual (English / Spanish) presenter, he has also performed at over 1,000 elementary schools, across the US and abroad, inspiring students and families to read for fun. He lives with his family in Northern California. Visit him online at matthewgollub.com.

Kazuko G. Stone was born in Tokyo, Japan, and immigrated to the United States in 1974. She lived in New York City for nearly 50 years and wrote and illustrated more than 30 children's books during that time. Her books have been published in six languages and distributed all over the world. Cool Melons Turn to Frogs, a book of haiku that Kazuko illustrated, won numerous awards and distinctions including two starred reviews and an American Library Association Notable Children's Book. She passed away in 2022. You can learn more about Kazuko at kazukogstone.com.

Editorial Reviews

"A humorous look at nighttime fears, a delightful counting book, and an appealing story poem. The verse is crisp and childlike. Stone's vibrant, expressive watercolor-and-pencil illustrations strike just the right balance between being scary and funny. They fill each page with motion and color. Clear Japanese characters from 1 to 10 adorn the shirts of each one. The book concludes with a pronunciation guide, background notes, and a number chart. A delightful and unique offering to fill requests for bedtime and counting books." — School Library Journal

"Ten garishly hued creatures from Japanese folklore gather one by one on a beach for an exuberant drumfest in this bedtime-cum-counting-rhyme from the creators of Cool Melons—Turn to Frogs!... Perfect fare for fans of wild rumpuses — with an afterword that includes background information on oni, taiko (Japanese drums), and charts for writing 1-10 in kanji script." — Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

The oni in this combination bedtime story and counting book by the creators of Cool Melons--Turn to Frogs! may keep readers awake more than it lulls them to sleep. "In dreams I gaze upon the sand,/ beneath the moonlight in Japan," opens the narrative, as a boy standing on a beach watches the first of the 10 ogre-like title characters emerge from the sand. Their lackluster activities (they raise flags, stoke a fire, eat from a large cooking pot) aren't likely to engage readers; even the more raucous activities (such as riding a raft and beating their drums) appear stagnant in the pictures. The rhyme and rhythm of Gollub's singsong verse intermittently falter. Stone's sometimes garish watercolor and colored pencil pictures depict the vividly colored oni as a potentially scary lot. Ironically, a full-spread rendering of the 10 wide-eyed, fanged drummers staring out from the page accompanies the words, "To me they're friendly, and what's more,/ they stand guard over slumber's shore./ When spooky dreams fill me with fright,/ they chase those dreams... into the night." The final spread imparts the volume's most valuable asset: a display of the Japanese kanji characters representing the numbers 1-10 and a demonstration of how to write each one. Ages 2-6. (Nov.) Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information.

Publishers Weekly - Publisher's Weekly

K-Gr 4-In a reassuring rhyming story, 10 Japanese oni appear one by one on the beach. They bang drums, make noise, and increase in size, page by page. As they approach the house of a small boy, they chant loudly and count in Japanese. However, the little hero is not afraid of these colorful wild goblins, for they serve to chase away his spooky dreams and become small sand creatures again at daybreak. This is a humorous look at nighttime fears, a delightful counting book, and an appealing story poem. The verse is crisp and childlike. Stone's vibrant, expressive watercolor-and-pencil illustrations strike just the right balance between being scary and funny. They fill each page with action and color. Clear Japanese characters from 1 to 10 adorn the shirts of each one. The book concludes with a pronunciation guide, background notes, and a number chart. A delightful and unique offering to fill requests for bedtime and counting books.-Beth Tegart, Oneida City Schools, NY Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.

School Library Journal

Kazuko Stone illustrates Ten Oni Drummers, a Japanese story of a young boy who falls asleep on the beach in Japan, awakening in the night to find onis who play taiko drums loudly to chase away his bad dreams. A warm story of gentle monsters who help.

Ten garishly hued creatures from Japanese folklore gather one by one on a beach for an exuberant drumfest in this bedtime-cum-counting-rhyme from the creators of Cool Melons—Turn to Frogs! (1998). Growing in size as well as number in Stone's simply drawn seaside scenes, the oni caper about wildly. They are comic figures despite staring red eyes (only two each—unlike their cousins in Arlene Mosel's Funny Little Woman, 1973), horns, and fangs, providing as much entertainment for readers as for the young narrator:"Ichi, ni, san, TUN-TUN! / One two three, around they run... ." After a night of chasing bad dreams away:"Then as daybreak lights the land, / they shrink and sink back in the sand." Perfect fare for fans of wild rumpuses—with an afterword that includes background information on oni, taiko (Japanese drums), and charts for writing 1-10 in kanji script. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews