Eleanor Frances Lattimore switches her easy reading sights from China to Japan for the story of Kimi, a spunky little girl, left with Aunt Nishi while her mother is in the city. As Aunt Nishi, a conservative, fusses over Kimi's shortcomings in serving tea and arranging flowers and Kimi persuades her to allow Mitsu, a cat in the house, the reader absorbs some Japanese atmosphere --but not enough to make the story in any way noteworthy. It was the egg woman, rumored to be a witch, who had given Mitsu to Kimi. All comes well as the egg woman's remedy cures Aunt Nishi's toothache and Mitsu vanquishes invading mice. Though the words themselves are easy and the sentences are short, the story moves somewhat obliquely: it is a little involved --almost obscure, in contradiction to the earlier The Journey of Ching Lai which moved easily and directly.
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