Child and adult alike will ever listen in fascination to a folk tale woven from the basic elements of life and nature. Such a story is The Wave, an ancient tale originally translated from Japanese by Lafcadio Hearn.

Here is the old, old man, symbol of age and the wisdom it brings; and his grandson, the very spirit of youth with its loyalty, misgivings, and impetuousness. Here is nature, angry and relentless, a tidal wave threatening to engulf the village. As the dramatic story unfolds and we watch grandfather Ojiisan set fire to his rice fields, we have a wonderful realization of the dignity of man and his ability to fight natural disaster with the fruits of nature itself.

The folk tale, with its oral tradition of being passed on from one storyteller to another, is best presented in its original form. For this reason The Wave has been designed for reading aloud. The storyteller now is Margaret Hodges, a children's librarian noted for her storytelling on Pittsburgh television. The illustrator, his art ideally suited to the tale, is Blair Lent. His dramatic three-color illustrations have the delicacy and strength of old Japan.

From the dust jacket