KENJI AND THE CRICKET. Wiseman, Adele. Illustrated by Shizuye Takashima. Erin (Ont.), Porcupine's Quill Inc., 1988. 20pp. cloth. $12.95, ISBN 0-88984-126-8. Distributed by University of Toronto Press. CIP Grades 2 and 3/Ages 7 and 8 Reviewed by Hazel Birt Volume 17 Number 3 1989 May Kenji and the Cricket is the kind of book that deserves a book award. Published with the assistance of the Canada Council and the Ontario Arts Council, the slim hard-cover book is elegant in design with nine full-page water-colour Illustrations. The poignant story of an orphan child's struggle to stay alive on the streets of Tokyo is told in a straightforward, appealing style. Who is little Kenji? Why is he so sad? Lonely little Kenji, What will make him glad? See a boy discover what he's never had. Kenji finds a cricket and a mom and dad. Wiseman is the author of Memoirs of a Book Molesting Childhood* Kenji and the Cricket is her first children's book. Illustrator Takashima is a Canadian artist, whose paintings are in the country's leading museums and major private collections. (A Child in a Prison Camp Tundra Books, 1971), written and illustrated by Takashima, tells the story of her experiences as a child in a Canadian prison camp for Japanese Canadians. The water-colours have a Japanese flavour. Takashima used the same style of illustration for both books, although the water-colours in Kenji and the Cricket are done in a much softer, gentler mood, most suitable for the story they are depicting. Kenji and the Cricket would be suitable for a class discussion on impoverished children in the world. Although the story is sad, it has a happy ending. Hazel Birt, Winnipeg, Man. *Reviewed vol. XV1/5 September 1988 p. 165.