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Таро - Синът на дракона

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Der kleine Taro lebt allein mit seiner Großmutter in einem Gebirgsdorf. Seine Mutter wurde vor Jahren in einen Drachen verwandelt, da sie während einer Hungersnot drei Fische gegessen hatte, ohne zu teilen. Taro macht sich auf seine Mutter zu suchen.

82 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1960

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About the author

Miyoko Matsutani

365 books17 followers
jap. 松谷みよ子 Born in 1926, Kanda, Tokyo. Graduated from Toyo High School in 1942. Requisitioned by the Naval Hydrographic Department in 1944, when she started writing stories for children.

Evacuating to Nagano in May 1945 to escape the war, she met Joji Tsubota, a famous writer for the young readers who was also there under the war evacuation, and showed him her works, asking for his advice. After her return to Tokyo in 1948, Tsubota's recommendation enabled her Kaininatta Kodomo no Hanashi (A Story of a Child turned into a Shell) to appear in the magazine Dowa Kyoshitsu (A Classroom of Children's Stories). Later, the story was published by Akane Publishing Co. as collected short stories entitled Kaininatta Kodomo (A Child turned into a Shell, 1951). The work won the first Japan Juvenile Literature Association Award for New Writers.

Married to Takuo Segawa, a folktale historian, with whom she establishment Taro Za, a puppet theater company, which broadened her social perspectives in her writing
style. With her husband she energetically collected oral stories and folktales through the interviews with the rural people in the Shinshu region, which inspired her to create a story Tatsunoko Taro (Taro the Dragon Boy, 1960) in her unprecedented literary style. Matsutani describes the story as a "collaboration of ancestors and myself." Interspersed with classical children's rhymes, her narrative style flows with a beautiful rhythm exquisitely resonant with the inherent power of story-telling. With its highly appreciated originality both in contents and form of expression that opened a new way in children's books, the work received the first Kodansha Award for Newcomers, the Sankei Juvenile Literature Publishing Culture Award, and the Hans Christian Andersen Award-Honour List (current IBBY Honour List) in 1962.

Along with her enthusiasm in creating children's fictions based on folktales, the autobiographical narrative in her Chisai Momo-chan (Little Momo-chan, 1964) brought a fresh air to the genre. The lively tone in the depiction of a child's daily life with her working mother captured readers' hearts. The work won the Noma Prize for Juvenile Literature and the NHK Juvenile Literature Encouragement Prize. Subsequently, she worked on the series of Momo-stories following the girl's growth,
such as Momo-chan to Pooh (Momo-chan and Poo, 1970), Momo-chan to Akane-chan (Momo-chan and Akane-chan, 1974), Chisai Akane-chan (Little Akane-chan, 1978) and Akane-chan to Okyaku-san no Papa (Akane-chan and Daddy as Guest, 1983). Particularly, Chisai Akane-chan made a big challenge in dealing with a topic on a parent's divorce, a conventional taboo in the realm of children's literature, by putting the serious subject into focus in a touch of fairytale style.

Matsutani has also been intent upon writing such fictions termed as so-called protest literature, including Futari-no Ida (Another Little Girl Called Ida, 1969), Shinokunikara-no Baton (From the Past World, 1976), and Watashino Anne Frank (Letters to Anne Frank, 1979). Her war-stories for younger children such as Machinto (A Little more, 1978) and Oide-Oide (Come here, 1984), for example, are written for those children in the next generation who do not have any experience of real war. The scope of her activities has been extended to record and compile the modern folktales in a series such as Gendaiminwako (Collection of Folktales in Modern times, 5 volumes, 1985).
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Levan Shakulashvili.
276 reviews
December 12, 2025
ტაროს თავგადასავალი ცუდი წიგნი არაა. იაპონური საბავშვო კლასიკაა, სკოლის პროგრამაში რომ შედის ისეთი. თარგმანი ძალიან საბჭოურია, რასაც იმ დანისლული მთებიდან ცოტა გამოჰყავხარ სადაც ნაწარმოებს სურს გადაგისროლოს, თუმცა თუ ცოტას მოინდომებთ მაინც იგრძნობთ როგორია ცოტა ხნით არსებობდა წყლის ურჩხულების, იოკაი ეშმაკების, თეთრი გველებისა და ჩანთქმული სოფლების სამყაროში.

ტაროს მართლა ცხრა მთის გადავლა უწევს. და ყველაზე კარგი ამ წიგნში, როგორც სხვა საბავშვო კლასიკებში მეორეხარისხოვანი პერსონაჟებია. გზად შემხვედრი სანდომიანი ახალგაზრდის ნათქვამ ერთ წინადადებაში და მოხუცი კაცის ტბაზე ნაჩუქარ სარკეშია ამ მთელი წიგნის უბრალოებაც და სილამაზეც.
Profile Image for Tsvetomira.
21 reviews
January 8, 2025
Една от любимите ми книги от детството. Препрочетох я за курса ми по литература за деца и юноши, с цел да я включа в курсов проект, но независимо че беше малко по задължение, наистина се насладих на книгата. Лека носталгия ме налегна и смятам, че подобни книги трябва да са по-популярни и сред малки, и сред големи. Можем да научим много от приключенията на Таро
21 reviews
January 27, 2024
This was my favourite book growing up I really loved it. It has mythical element but it's very educational and fun to read. I would definitely recommend this book to younger people
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews

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