Basho and the River Stones by Tim Myers illustrated by Oki S. Han*

Although Mr. Myers created this story from his own imagination about Matsuo Basho, he took some elements from folklore.  Matsuo Basho, a Japanese poet, made the the hokku (haiku) into the beautiful art form it is today.
Basho lives near the Fuka River where a cherry tree produces an abundance of cherries.  Being generous, he agrees to share the cherries with the local foxes.  Over time, however, the foxes became greedy, especially one fox.  He uses his magic to trick Basho.  The deception, however, back fires and, the fox and Basho learn to respect one another.
A sweet, fun book!
*Highly recommend.
-Borrowed from the library.