"This is a story about something that happened in Japan about 100 years ago.  I added some details to fill it out; make it easier to understand.  You probably have your own story to tell.  Look for it.  Share it.  Stories are for telling."  Andy Frew

Hardcover:

After their home is destroyed by a volcano, Michi must leave her aunt to work for a seamstress, Mistress Shinyo.  There, she joins three other girls who have little talent with a needle and even less ambition.  However, Michi is a natural, and the better she does, the more jealous and angry the other apprentices become.  When Mistress Shinyo is chosen to make a beautiful white kimono for a visiting noble, Michi has a chance to help the woman increase her business.  However, when she sets to work on the garment, she finds that her peers have taken all of her white thread, leaving only red.  By following the advice of her aunt to always do the right thing, Michi manages to sew a kimono that pleases the customer, and also finds a way to appease the other apprentices. This gentle story paints an interesting and realistic picture of early-20th-century Japan.  Matsuoka's watercolors are a perfect match to the text.  Through her spare paintings, the artist shows the individual characters and evokes the setting.