Mitsumasa Anno's fans all over the world have come to expect the unexpected from him.  Now, like the wizard in this story, he offers young readers yet another wonderful surprise, a magical, multifaceted fable.

The magic begins when a wizard gives Jack two mysterious golden seeds.  Jack eats one seed and, miraculously, isn't hungry for a whole year!  He buries the other seed, just as the wizard has told him to do, and suddenly his life starts to change.  His fortune grows by ones and twos, then faster and faster, and so does the readers' fun—until suddenly a terrible flood threatens to take it all away.  Though the story can be followed without any math skills beyond simple addition and subtraction, sharp-witted young readers will delight in the increasingly tricky arithmetic puzzles cleverly woven into both text and illustrations.  

This many-layered tale is much more than entertaining mathematical tour de force; it has a deeper message.  Anno's simple but poetic text and exquisite watercolor illustrations invite children to seek out his meaning for themselves.  Visual clues "hidden in plain sight" reveal the moment when carefree Jack mends his lazy ways, perceptive viewers will detect at what point he becomes "smarter" (or perhaps more calculating).  In the end, a wiser Jack finds the courage to start all over again.  Here is a heartening message for readers of all ages.

From the dust jacket