Once Upon a Time in Japan
(Downloadable Audio)
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
When wily animals, everyday people and magical beings come together in a collection of Japanese fairytales and stories, wonderful things are bound to happen!
Each story is brilliantly illustrated by a talented Japanese artist. The tales recounted here are among Japan's oldest and most beloved stories. Entertaining and filled with subtle folk wisdom, these retold stories have been shared countless times in Japanese homes and schools for generations. Like good stories from every time and place, they never grow old. Kids (and their parents!) will enjoy hearing these stories read aloud on the downloadable audio.
The fairytales and classic stories in this collection include: The Wife Who Never Eats—the story of a man who learns the hard way the evils of stinginess. The Mill of the Sea—the story of how a greedy man was responsible for the saltiness of sea water. The Monkey and the Crab—the crabs teach a tricky monkey a lesson in fairness and honesty. The Magical Hood—an act of kindness reaps great rewards. Sleepyhead Taro and the Children—a
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"Tales are the starting-place of wisdom, and their lessons are universal," writes Pulvers in an introduction to this engaging grouping of eight Japanese folktales. As in many folktales from other traditions, wicked figures get their just deserts (a greedy fox loses its tail after conning an otter out of several meals) and kindnesses are rewarded; in one story, a young man whose magical hood allows him to understand animals uses his power to help heal an ailing merchant's daughter, whom he eventually marries. Four artists illustrate using a variety of media (scratchboard, paint, digital college); the brevity of the stories and the dominance of the artwork give the book the feel of a picture-book compilation, though some stories (a witch with a mouth on top of her head meets a bloody end in the first tale) aren't necessarily bedtime fare. Ages 9 12.
