THE SNOW WIFE
by Robert D. San Souci & illustrated by Stephen T. Johnson
A ghost story based on an ancient Japanese legend. The young woodcutter Minokichi, happily married to lovely Yuki, doesn't know she's an icy spirit in thrall to the Wind God. When a broken promise exiles Yuki back to the spirit world and she loses all memory of their happy life together, Minokichi undertakes a perilous quest to the capricious god's shrine to plead for her return. His desperate journey through mountain wastes, where he eludes fearsome creatures, has the drama and power of the Orpheus myth—with a happy ending. Johnson's pastel-and-watercolor art features marvelously subtle colors, mysterious light, mists, and vapors, and extravagantly imaginative portraits of the grotesque beings on Bitter Mountain. An excellent edition of a fine story. (Folklore/Picture book. 6+)