This is one of the best times of the year to be a child in Tokyo, especially as the fascinating world of popular American picture books is coming to Ebisu Garden Place from April 26 to May 6 with an event for children and parents titled "It's Easy! It's Fun! The World of Ed Emberley's Drawing."

Emberley is known for his "Drawing Book" series first published in the United States in 1969. The books were then translated and published in five other countries including Japan. The books are popular as his illustrations show easy ways of drawing animals, faces and trains by combining simple lines, circles, triangles and squares.

Emberley has published more than 100 picture books, and one of them made the New York Times' list of best illustrated books. He has also received many awards for picture books.

At an event space named Ed Emberley's Drawing Table, visiting children and parents can draw pictures of characters from Emberley's books following instructions on the panels attached to the venue's tables.

Children can play and enjoy the world of the picture books at Ed Emberley's Athletics and Playground, which is equipped with a tunnel, a slide and many square cushions with illustrations of characters from his books.

Mixing hands-on fun with Japanese tradition, a huge unpainted koi nobori carp streamer commemorating Children's Day on May 5 will invite about 1,000 children to make their palm prints on the streamer to fill in as fish's scales. On May 5 itself, Emberley will make a personal appearance to draw the face and the fins of the carp. Then he and children will fly the streamer at the venue.

Admission to the events is free, although some art workshops with professional instructors will require fees.

The events will be held from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. at Ebisu Garden Place, a five- minute walk from JR Ebisu Station.

For more information, call Ebisu Garden Place Information at (03) 5423-7111.