Captivated by its sweet song, an emperor takes a nightingale into his palace as his companion. But when the emperor shows more interest in a bejeweled mechanical bird, the nightingale flees. It returns only when the lonely emperor sees how foolishly he has behaved.
Mako was born in Kobe, Japan, the son of noted children's book author and illustrator Taro Yashima. His parents moved...