Ten Oni Drummers

In this playful, rhyming picture book, a child learns to see monsters as his friends who chase away spooky dreams. Alone on a beach, in Japan, the boy sees a tiny oni creeping up from the sand. Soon there are two, then three of the colorful goblins, each with its own number written in kanji on its back. The cumulative counting chant begins: “Ichi, ni, san-tun-tun. One, two, three, around they run!” As they beat their taiko drums they grow bigger—and more numerous. They carry on wildly, devo...