Kazue Shinkawa's poems sing of seasonal flowers in bright language accessible to young readers. Affection for nature, the passage of the seasons, and fresh feeling for a youthful audience combine in a gentle voice that points toward her later poetic work.

The poems open flowers and changing seasons through language that reaches young readers.

This picture-book story explains why the elephant's trunk became long through a folktale-like narrative and illustrations. A curious young elephant encounters danger, and the tale connects that adventure to the elephant's present form.

A young elephant's curiosity brings about the beginning of the long trunk.