Business returns to a once prosperous restaurant when a mysterious stranger pays for his meal with a magical paper crane that comes alive and dances.

Paper Crane

FROM OUR EDITORS

An honest and hard-working father and son own a restaurant that has fallen on hard times. One day a stranger comes to the restaurant, and though he cannot pay for his meal, he is fed like a king. In payment, the stranger gives the pair a beautifully folded white paper crane; which, at the clap of one's hands becomes real and dances. Soon people are coming from miles around to see this remarkable bird--and to eat the good food. Bang's use of collage brings an oriental flavor to this gentle fable.

ANNOTATION

A mysterious man enters a restaurant and pays for his dinner with a paper crane that magically comes alive and dances.

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Business returns to a once prosperous restaurant when a mysterious stranger pays for his meal with a magical paper crane that comes alive and dances. "A delight to the eye and imagination."—Horn Book. "An enchanting book."—School Library Journal

FROM THE CRITICS

Publishers Weekly

Collaborating with her distinguished mother Betsy Bang and working on her own, Molly Bang has received awards including two Caldecott Honors for Ten, Nine, Eight and The Grey Lady and the Strawberry Snatcher. She has another front contender in this amazingly ingenious book. A restaurant owner and his son lose their clientele when a new superhighway bypasses their street. When a poor man comes to them one evening, they gladly serve him a fine meal for pay. Before leaving, he gives his hosts a paper crane which will be a living, dancing bird when they clap their hands. The dancing crane brings crowds to the restaurant and prosperity to the kind owners as well as a joyful surprise to readers at the story's end. In the color pictures, one sees everything in three-dimensions, an artistic effect created by lovely collages and paintings. A sandwich on a plate, roses in a vase, etc., seem real enough to pick up. (58)