In celebration of the 2021 Multicultural Children’s Book Day on Friday, January 29, I want to share my review of “Folk Tales From Japan,” written by Florence Sakade, illustrated by Yoshio Hayashi, and published by Tuttle Publishing.
Disclosure: I was gifted a copy of Folk Tales From Japan. Opinions expressed herein are entirely my own.
#ReadYourWorld
This is a delightful hardcover book with sixteen stories by the late Florence Sakade (republished in August 2020). Most of her stories are relatively short (3-4 pages long), with the exception of “The Singing Turtle” and “Kindaro’s Adventures.” Although I am somewhat familiar with Japan (having lived there for a semester in college), the only story I knew before I started this book was the Japanese version of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which in this book is titled “The Princess and the Herdboy.” I have enjoyed reading the stories with my preschooler. He laughed out loud when I read “How to Fool a Cat” and asked to study the words and pictures. We also liked “The Magic Mortar.” The illustrations by the late Japanese painter Yoshio Yayashi are simple but engaging, and quite adorable. I am particularly fond of the vest-wearing, rice-pounding mice in “The Rolling Mochi Cakes.” This is another wonderful addition to our home library and I look forward to reading its companion book, Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories, also by Tuttle Publishing.
To learn more about Multicultural Children’s Book Day, please visit: multiculturalchildrensbookday.com
You can learn more about the Japanese-Canadian author Florence Sakade (1917-1999) and her remarkable life here: https://swet.jp/tributes/article/florence_sakade
You can learn more about the publisher, Tuttle Publishing, here: www.tuttlepublishing.com