Journey to Japan (Unicef Book) [Hardcover]

Kinuko Kraft (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 30, 1986 | Series: Unicef Book

Describes the daily life, customs, legends, and festivals in Japan. Features pop-up and movable illustrations.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1 pages
• Publisher: Viking Juvenile; 1st edition (September 30, 1986)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670801194
• ISBN-13: 978-0670801190
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 5.9 x 1.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,403,852 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

I was about Charlotte's age when I set sail with my family on the S.S. Independence to Paris, where we were to live for six years. We then moved to Tunisia and, while we were there, I went to boarding school in Switzerland. Next we moved to Tripoli, Libya, where I had a spotted dog named Couscous, a lively donkey called Duncan, and more lizards than I could count. Because we moved so often my growing-up years were fragmented, and my childhood memories are very important to me - I turn to them for inspiration. I continue to keep in touch with my school friends in Paris and return to France whenever I can. It was on one of these trips that I discovered Giverny for myself and saw the wonderful collection of American Impressionist paintings in the Musée Americain. It inspired me to write the first book in the Charlotte series, Charlotte in Giverny. I should mention that I had no idea at the time that it would be the first in a series of Charlotte books - I thought it would be a one-time thing!

Here's what people say about my Charlotte series:

Charlotte in Giverny
"Part faux diary, part scrapbook, this charming volume teeters between picture book and novel.... a most appealing art history lesson." -- Publishers Weekly

Charlotte in Paris
"...reproductions of paintings, small watercolors, collages of objects Charlotte has saved, and a certain amount of French vocabulary adorn the utterly engaging text. Biographies of the painters, painting credits, and an author's note round out this charming offering." -- Booklist

Charlotte in New York
"This author-illustrator pair successfully continues the conceit of the child of a fictional 19th-century American painter living in Giverny, in Paris and now in New York. The pair's attention to historical detail is utterly winning. For example, Charlotte's entries in her diary about Monsieur Durand-Ruel's auto breaking down in Giverny, the crossing on the ship Champagne from Le Havre or the Havemeyers' ball in New York." -- Kirkus Reviews


Charlotte in London
"Art-loving Charlotte, who has globe-trotted from Giverny to Paris to New York, now writes of her trip to London in 1895 in this handsomely illustrated journal. The family goes to England in hopes that Charlotte's mother will be painted by John Singer Sargent, but that's only a thread in this story, which is as much about new adventures as it is about art. As in previous books, much care and thought have been put into the book's design. Sweet's own illustrations are small gems, but there are interesting reproductions here as well. For readers who want to know more, there's plenty of back matter to inform. A bloomin' delight." -- Booklist

I now have two grown daughters and live in New York's Hudson Valley with my Bill and our Brussels Griffon dogs. When I'm not writing or gardening, Bill and I are busy with our company, Catskill Mountain Pictures, scouting locations for film, fashion and television.

Where is Charlotte off to next? Misty, mysterious Venice! Stay tuned...

Joan

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 stars Very nice pop-up book for the young reader!, September 4, 2009

By 

R Schmidt (Honolulu, HI USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Journey to Japan (Unicef Book) (Hardcover)

I suspect it is always hard to capture the sense of a country in a 14 page book, but this one makes a valiant attempt. Journey To Japan is an over-sized (20 x 20 x 20 inches) pop-up book. Open the first page, and a Japanese home opens up for you to peer inside. Later, you see the skyline of Tokyo. And there is Todaiji Temple, and an auto plant, and the Festival of the Lanterns. In addition, the explanations of culture, sports, and living in Japan are very helpful.

There's a lot here for 14 pages! Enjoy.