Masako Matsuno
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Masako Matsuno (1935–2011) was a Japanese author of children's books, born in Ehime Prefecture, Japan. Her first picture book, "A Pair of Red Clogs" (1960), written by Masako Matsuno—who had also come to America on a scholarship—became a great success. The book, illustrated by Kazue Mizumura and published by World Publishing in Cleveland, tells the story of a young Japanese girl named Mako and the new lacquered clogs she treasures. Matsuno's first book for children grew out of her wish to capture the sound of wooden clogs on a stone road in "the beautiful rhythm of the English language."
The story itself centers on a little Japanese girl whose new shoes were clogs painted with red lacquer that shone beautifully, and what happened after she cracked the new clogs playing the weather-telling game and so longed for a bright, shiny new pair to replace them that she almost did a dishonest thing, framed through the warmth and quiet understanding of the grandmother who, remembering her own temptations as a little girl, recalls this story for her granddaughter. Matsuno went on to write several other children's books introducing American readers to Japanese life, including "Taro and the Tofu" and "Taro and the Bamboo Shoot," often working again with illustrator Kazue Mizumura.
"A Pair of Red Clogs" has remained continuously admired since its original 1960 publication, prized among collectors of vintage and mid-century children's literature. Rare book dealers have noted the strong collector demand for children's picture books, and this title in particular is a: "CHILDREN'S BOOK Illustrated by Kazue Mizumura. Poignant children's story of a little Japanese girl whose new clogs get cracked." Its early edition, tied to Matsuno's debut as a children's author and Mizumura's celebrated illustration work, gives original printings particular appeal to collectors of postwar American children's publishing and cross-cultural literature for young readers.
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