The Sweets’ Grand Ball and Other Tales

A box of sweets becomes a dancing company. A little insect offers to help a girl who longs to attend school. Two children lost in a snowstorm enter a tower where gods, storybook heroes and familiar doodles celebrate winter’s farewell to spring.

These thirteen tales by Kaijaku Ranpei, the early pen name of Yumeno Kyūsaku, combine household mishaps with strange transformations. A cat’s theft, an octopus kite’s boasting and a boy’s misuse of medicine bring sharp consequences. Elsewhere, a child’s concern for flowers or a charcoal burner’s compassion for an insect opens a world of unexpected possibilities.

The stories move between laughter, fear, tenderness and stern lessons. Their dreams do not always resolve neatly, and their original endings can be startlingly direct. Songs, repeated sounds and animated objects give the collection a lively variety of voices.