Something new, something old...

 

How about a nice, long sleeve Pokémon T to update the fall wardrobe? Target has these youth size T’s up to size XL, $9.99, in “ebony.”

 

Since a lot of folks including Pojo’s site, Beckett’s ‘zine and myself are celebrating Poké-versaries this year, I thought I’d roll back the clock those 10 years and show a couple of really cute used books I’ve found. Here we have two books by Keiko Fukuyama. Stare really hard, you might recognize the artwork. Yes, one of the artists that worked on the Southern Islands sets! The book with the lighter colored cover appears to be a collection of short bedtime stories, as evidenced by the Pikachu inside the dust jacket that goes from awake to asleep by the back cover. There is even an ad for the Southern Islands TCG set inside this volume, c.1999 (ISBN4-09-253274-1 for those of you that might be interested in trying to locate used copies online). I found this book several years ago and then, this weekend was overjoyed to find the c.2000 book, The Guide Book of Pokémon-Island (ISBN4-09-253275-X), after an intensive search through many used books at my local bookstore. A Pichu inside the back cover advertises the bedtime book! Inside the guide, I see that a Gyarados cloud that constantly changes shape floats above the Pikachu face-shaped island, while a Moltres flies above a fiery mountain (Pikachu’s ear on the fold-out map!) and an Articuno circles an ice-capped mountain (Pikachu’s other ear!). Both books contain short Christmas/holiday stories and are super KAWAII (cute!). I often find myself wondering why more of these charming tomes aren’t translated and presented to the American market. Until then, I will continue to dig through mountains of used books—and you can search to your hearts’ content online. Ten years ago, what memories!

 

Pika!

Loretta