Today's post comes to you from Jackie Friedman Mighdoll: In working on picture books, I’ve always been taught to focus on the narrative arc, including a problem or challenge, some attempts to solve it, a climax and ultimately a satisfying ending. But reading Japanese picture books shows me there are other ways to make great … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month: Surreal Worlds in Japanese Picture Books
Today's post comes to you from Deborah Iwabuchi: When it comes to weather, Japanese children’s books contain lots of it. Today, I present three books on rain that have been translated into English. While each book is structured around a day full of precipitation—pre-rain, rain, and post-rain—the actual stories are completely different. Every Color of … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month Focus on Japan: Rainy Weather From All Angles
Today’s post comes to you from Susan E. Jones: A wide range of books from Japan for the youngest readers are waiting to be discovered. Baby and toddler books, especially interactive board books with pop-ups, sliding panels, and manipulative features, entice Japan’s youngest readers into the literary world. While toddler-level picture books may be outnumbered … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Month: Books from Japan for the Youngest Readers
What has no color, but can be any color? What has no shape, but can take any shape? Why, water, of course. Almost Nothing, Yet Everything is a wondrous exploration of water by multi-award-winning creative duo Hiroshi Osada and Ryōji Arai. Aimed at readers ages 4-8, this picture book pairs Osada’s beautiful, lyrical ode to … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Almost Nothing, Yet Everything: A Book About Water
If you are familiar with Japanese picture books, you may know that Chirri and Chirra, In the Night is merely the latest (eighth!) entry in the delightful series from author and illustrator Kaya Doi. Translated by David Boyd, this sweet little book is an ode to the magic that nighttime can bring. Chirri and Chirra … Continue reading #WorldKidLit Wednesday: Chirri & Chirra, In the Night
May GLLI Blog Series: Japan in Translation, No. 27 Editor's note: Forget the old saw that English language readers won't read literature in translation. For the last seven years, Monkey Business: New Writing from Japan has been publishing an annual journal of what it calls "the best of contemporary Japanese literature" in English. The paperback editions of … Continue reading Me and My Monkey — by Roland Kelts
Global Literature in Libraries Initiative 