The Moon Princess (Kodansha Children's Classics, 2) [Hardcover]

Ralph F. McCarthy (Author), Kancho Oda (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1993 | Series: Kodansha Children's Classics, 2

A young girl raised in the humble home of a bamboo cutter grows up to be a wise and renowned beauty but eventually she must return to her real home.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Exquisite color and movement."-Booklist

"A feast for the eyes, and a great introduction to Japanese folk tales." -The Daily Yomiuri

"Simple yet absorbing tale. These strong, recommended children's classics will please kids who love lively and unpredictable plots." -Children's Bookwatch

"Brimming with the familiar and great themes of loyalty, courage and generosity." -Asahi Evening News

"Sumptuous illustrations" -School Library Journal

"Would make an excellent gift for any child, in Japan and abroad." -Tokyo Today

--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

About the Author

RALPH F. McCARTHY is a writer, lyricist, and translator from Michigan and California. Among his translations are another collection of stories by Osamu Dazai, Self Portraits, and 69 by Ryu Murakami.
--This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 48 pages
• Publisher: Kodansha Amer Inc; 1st edition (October 1993)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 4770017561
• ISBN-13: 978-4770017567
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 7.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,949,303 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Nicer than others, August 15, 2005

By 

Ana Ma Vargas Velazquez "wild book-lover" (mexico) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Moon Princess / Kaguyahime (Kodansha's Children's Classics) (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a traditional japanese story, that I chose because for a japanese language student is a very good way to practice comprehension skills. It is also a nice story cause it contains no fatal punishment for any deed like other similar stories do, it is about what lies mean and of filial love. Other stories, instead, like Sarukani, The monkey an the Crab, are full of cruelty, something that clearly reflects the mentality of an era, in which there is no space for forgivness and the only posible punishment is allways fatal, with a previous list of torturing actions. Anyway, any of this bilingual stories can be of great help to students of japanese, best if you are trying to acquire a broad vocabulary, it only requires the search of the respective kanji and you are done with it.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Two boys' review: Good book for children learning Japanese, July 25, 2008

By 

Jared Castle (Roseburg, Oregon United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Moon Princess / Kaguyahime (Kodansha's Children's Classics) (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

We've used our copy to teach our children as well as to use for storytime in their school room. The book is well made, easy to follow, and affordable (look for Amazon's 4-for-3 promotion to save some money).

Check out my other Amazon.com reviews of kids' books.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars not bad but could be much better, July 4, 2011

By 

Ski Bum (Park City, UT) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Moon Princess / Kaguyahime (Kodansha's Children's Classics) (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

The purpose of having a dual language book is to help learn a language, but the English and Japanese are so different in translation, almost ridiculous, that it is useless for this purpose. Also the print could have been better, the print is too small and only takes up about 10% of the page. They could have made the print larger and easier to read and still have left plenty of space on the pages. Not very well thought out.