Little One-Inch & Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories [Paperback]

Florence Sakade (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up

Ten favorite stories from Japan can be found in Little One-Inch and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, including the wonderful title story that follows Little One-Inch on his exciting adventures. Also included are such perennial favorites as "The Badger and the Magic Fan," "Why the Jellyfi sh Has No Bones" and "The Crab and the Monkey."

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Review

The books have a generous, easy-to-handle size and the text is produced in a large font. Charmingly decorated endpapers welcome readers. All of the artworkùconsisting of numerous full-page pictures and smaller detail illustrationsùis in color. The delicate paintings blend traditional images with touches of gentle humor. Incorporating straightforward language and clear dialogue, the retellings are accessible to youngsters and read aloud smoothly.—School Library Journal

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Florence Sakade was an experienced editor and author of numerous books about Japan, including Urashima Taro and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories and Kintaro's Adventures and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 61 pages
• Publisher: Tuttle Publishing (December 1958)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0804803846
• ISBN-13: 978-0804803847
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 7.7 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 6.9 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,843,649 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful Book of Japanese Fairy Tales, June 18, 2000

By 

Renee Thorpe (Karangasem, Bali) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Little One-Inch & Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories (Paperback)

Introduce your children to the wonderful tales Japanese children know and love! A bit abridged, if you know the tales already, but these are a fine collection.

Little One-Inch is Japan's Tom Thumb, and he is shown wending his way down a stream in a boat made of a rice bowl, using a chopstick for propulsion.

There are ten stories in all, sweetly illustrated in Japanese style. Kids 3 to 10 will enjoy these; my favorite is The Rabbit Who Crossed the Sea ...on the backs of sharks he somewhat maliciously tricks into helping him. The listener learns Rabbit's hard-won lesson about fooling people, and they are given a delightfully amazing picture of Rabbit using the sharks as an inter-island bridge.

One warning: there is a color picture of Little One-Inch poking a needle into the eye of a demon, but I've seen more frightening pictures in Disney publications. In general, the book has nothing scarier than what western fairy tales offer.

5.0 out of 5 stars Great stories to reread, October 16, 2010

By 

E. Lamb (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Little One-Inch and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories (Hardcover)

My kids are 4 and 6 and enjoy hearing these stories again and again. The pictures are really lovely too.

5.0 out of 5 stars Milder translations of the originals, July 7, 2009

By 

Patrick Yamada "Shiroh 'niichan" (South Central Orange County, CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Little One-Inch and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories (Hardcover)

Issunboushi (Little One Inch) is a staple of Japanese children's stories, and there is even a children's song based on it. While the violence in the stories is a bit much for 21st century Western culture, this English translation has toned down the more graphic details. For example, this version says Issunboushi stabs the evil ogre's nose and eye. The original had the ogre swallowing Issunboushi and vomiting him out after the latter had stabbed his stomach lining with his needle-sword. A Japanese version of "The Crab and the Monkey" (Saru-Kani Gassen) said the monkey killed the crab by pelting it with hard persimmons and the crab's children got revenge by beating him to a pulp. This English version has the injured crab exacting a less extreme form of justice by having allies injure the monkey until he admits and apologizes for his transgressions.

While this may appear much now, children actually find comfort in seeing the bad guy getting his just deserts. The stories are clear and straightforward-- those who do evil lose and those who do good win. The illustrations are simple and magical ("suitable for framing" as the old saying goes).

I grew up with these stories, and I in turn read them to my children as bedtime stories. They love the stories and pictures and ask me to read them repeatedly. Of all the books I read to them, this book and the "Peach Boy" volume are their favorites.