Here, beautifully illustrated and presented in both English and Japanese, are 12 of the best Japanese folktales-shared with generation after generation of Japanese children. These charming tales engage your imagination as you're carried on turtle-back rides, brought to the underwater palace of the dragon princess, and discover a temple with a "tea kettle" that is really a cunning badger in disguise. Stories include: The Tongue-Cut Sparrow The Strong Boy The Marriage of a Mouse The Fisherman and the Tortoise The Luminous Princess The Peach Boy The Kachi Kachi Mountain The Old Men With Wens The Old Man Who Made Trees Blossom The One-Inch Boy The Lucky Cauldron The Monkey and Crab Fight These stories are all richly illustrated, with 98 color illustrations by two of Japan's foremost children's books illustrators. Executed with great skill and imagination, they bring to life the charming characters of these heartwarming tales of old Japan. The tales were originally written in English by author Yuri Yasuda based on her interpretations of traditional Japanese stories. Here they are fully bilingual-each one accompanied by Japanese text. The Japanese versions of each tale include simple kanji with furigana pronunciations to help learners recognize the characters. Japanese Myths, Legends & Folktales is accessible to both English and Japanese-speaking children, as well as to older language learners who wish to enhance their reading ability. This multicultural children's book will entertain, inspire, and educate in equal measure.

 

This book has been graded for interest at 5-14 years.

There are 128 pages in this book. This book was published 2019 by Tuttle Publishing .

Yuri Yasuda is a graduate of the English Department, International School of the Sacred Heart, Tokyo. Since childhood she has written stories for her own amusement, and she began to tell folk and fairy tales to her two sons and two daughters as soon as they were able to understand the words. In the midst of a busy family life, she finds time to write as well as take part in the civic life of her community. Eleanor B. Coerr traveled to Japan as a newspaper reporter in 1949, where she lived on a farm for a year, learning the language. Inspired by her farm family and a visit to a local circus, Eleanor wrote and illustrated Circus Day in Japan . It was first published by Tuttle in 1953 and remained in print until 1968. Eleanor is best-known for Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes . Yumi Matsunari is a professional translator and interpreter living in Fukui, Japan. She studied in Kyoto, Cambridge and London. Among her works are A Treasury of Japanese Folktales and Japanese Made Easy .