Sato the Rabbit Morning light

Is Sato a boy in a rabbit costume or a rabbit with a human face and bearing? Is he a kid or a grownup? What matters is that he's an alert, curious, questing creature who follows his imagination and his heart. In this pair of adventures, Sato plays with light. On one perfect day, a narrow band of sunlight between two curtains turns into a kind of benign lightsaber or magic wand that he wields to scoop up sparkles, gather sunshine, and stir his coffee. As dusk falls, he uses his captured beam of light for a comforting campfire and as one of the ingredients for a delicious sandwich. On another memorable day, Sato wakes up to discover that his bedroom has become a floating lighthouse. He tends the light, accepts gifts from birds and fish, and pays attention to an ever-changing world. A shell becomes a boat, clouds become a whale, a sliver of moon becomes candy, day becomes night. In simple declarative sentences and compositions made of ovals and blobs in warm pastel colors, Ainoya creates a world of kindness and abundance as the background to a story that needs no conflict to be fully realized, absorbing, and sweetly funny. Sarah EllisSeptember/October 2025 p.36 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

This Japanese import sees young Sato return for more escapades. One morning, Sato, a light-skinned child dressed in a white rabbit suit, notices a sliver of light between the curtains in his dark room. He pinches and pulls out the light, discovering whimsical uses for it during his fanciful day. After he stirs his morning coffee with the beam of light, he's transported to a sun-splashed field. There, he "[gathers] spots of sunshine," "[scoops] up sparkles from the riverbed," and makes a toasty campfire. After enjoying a sandwich of falling stars and a drink made with sparkles he gathered earlier, he settles in for a twinkly night, aglow with joy from his day. Later, Sato awakens and finds himself in a lighthouse, surrounded by a cobalt sea. Again, sunlight is his playmate, and when the light forms two perfect cubes, he lifts them up, places them atop the lighthouse, and enjoys the fruit and shells that the birds and fish, attracted by the sight, bring him. The shells are magical; one transforms into a ship that puffs whimsical clouds, while another creates a magnificent sunset, bathed in orange, purple, and yellow. As night returns, Sato gazes up at the moon and stars etched into the inky black sky. Ainoya once more displays a superb gift for spare prose and playfully unusual illustrations, beginning with purple and white endpapers whose forms foreshadow the events to come, unfolding into a story of magical realism. Enchanting adventures for the littlest explorers.(Picture book. 3-6) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.