TEN ONI DRUMMERS

New York City, NY: Lee And Low New York, 2000. First Edition. First Printing.. Hardcover. Fine/Fine Dust Jacket.. New York City, NY: Lee And Low New York, 2000. Hardcover. Fine/Fine. First Edition/First Printing. 30 pages. Contemporary children's book classic. One of the most beautiful illustrated children's books of our time. The true First Edition. Precedes and should not be confused with all other subsequent editions, particularly the Reissued Edition. Published in a small and limited first print run by Lee And Low New York as a hardcover original only. The First Edition is now rare. Presents, in its First Edition format, Matthew Gollub's and Kazuko G. Stone's "Ten Oni Drummers". A Rhyming Picture Book, deeply rooted in Japanese imagery, fantasy, and culture. "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. With bright watercolor paintings, Stone draws on the folk culture of her native Japan to portray the monsters as both frightening and funny. Chart at the end shows how to draw and pronounce the Japanese numbers one through ten, symbols understood not just in Japan but in China and Korea, too" (Publisher's blurb). It is not necessary to know Japan to fall in love with this exquisitely realized book. An absolute "must-have" title for Matthew Gollub and Kazuko G. Stone collectors. This copy is very prominently and beautifully signed, dated, and inscribed in black ink-pen on the title page by the author: "To James, [symbols for 1, 2, 3, and 4 sleep-count followed by three dots] Keep Counting! Matthew Gollub 6-11-01". It is signed directly on the page itself, not on a tipped-in page. The boy-recipient, who is named, is personally known to the author. This title is a contemporary children's book classic. As far as we know, this is the only such signed, dated, and inscribed copy of the true First Hardcover Edition/First Printing available online and is in especially fine condition: Clean, crisp, and bright. Please note: Precedes and should NOT be confused with the Reissued Edition. Copies available online have serious flaws, are in multiple subsequent printings, or are remainder-marked. This is surely an accessible and lovely alternative. A rare signed copy thus. Lavishly illustrated with color plates. Two of the most brilliant children's book writers and artists of our time. A fine copy. . ISBN 1584300116.