Friday, July 25, 2025

New Japanese Picturebooks

 While in Japan we found some wonderful bookstores.  (I always seek those out wherever I travel!).  Of course I bee-lined to the children's sections!  It was neat seeing familiar picture books but in Japanese.  And I loved seeing Japanese authors and illustrators that I was unfamiliar with.  Some things are cross-cultural in children's books, like bright engaging drawings and cute characters.  I ended up bringing these two books home because even though I couldn't read any of the Japanese text, I could still tell and enjoy what the story was.  Isn't that a sign of a good picture book?

There are so many things that are cute in Japanese culture.  "Kawaii" is absolutely everywhere, even in the food!  This first book I believe features a naughty watermelon who refuses to be cut.  And the second book follows adorable bugs on their journey home (google translate revealed a father and son bug who take a snail taxi to the grandmother's house.)

Watermelon-kun
Kazuhiko Toyota 2010
and
A Snail Taxi
Tamura Shigeru 1998














This is my favorite picture with the stag beetle!


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