Hide-and-Seek and Other Stories and Poems

Little Bear waits beneath a desk while Duck forgets their game and goes out for a walk. A rabbit sells fruit in the woods, toy spectacles fill an old woman’s house, and an elderly scholar must discover why he cannot stop crying.

Murayama Kazuko turns everyday desires into startling adventures: stylish shoes, a new hairstyle, birthday food, a friend’s wings, and the freedom to be a good child. Poems, stories, and the little play “Mr. Piccolo” keep their distinct voices and forms.

These twenty works were first published between 1924 and 1930. Alongside their playful animal characters is “The Cricket’s Death,” a fierce satire about an injured worker and a charity hospital, preserving the darker reach of the author’s imagination.