Peach Boy and Other Japanese Children's Favorite Stories

by Florence Sakade, Yoshisuke Kurosaki (Illustrator)

Collects nine Japanese folktales, including "The Magic Teakettle," "The Rabbit in the Moon," and "Silly Saburo."

Genres: Fiction, Japan, Childrens, Picture Books, Asia, Classics

60 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1958

About the author

The late Florence Sakade is widely recognized as a pioneer of English language publishing in Japan. She was an experienced editor and the author/compiler of such favorites as A Guide to Reading and Writing Japanese, Origami: Japanese Paper Folding, and Japanese Children's Favorite Stories. Her distinguished career spanned four decades, and she worked until her death in 1999 at the age of 82.

Reviews

[Köksal KÖK · Rating 5 out of 5]

içindekiler, kitaptaki hikayeler-masallar;

-sihirli kutu,
-terlik satıcısı,
-kırmızı cin niye ağladı,
-yuvarlanan köfteler,
-prenses ile çoban,
-şeftali çocuk,
-sihirli çaydanlık,
-aydaki tavşan,
-budala saburo,
-yapışkan çam,
-dokumacı örümcek,
-Ejderha'nın gözyaşları,
-dünyanın en büyüğü,
-şarkı söyleyen kaplumbağa,
-porsuk ile sihirli yelpaze,
-yengeç ile maymun,
-kesik kuyruklu maymun,
-uçan köylü,
-sihirli değirmen.

[Ro · Rating 4 out of 5]

😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃🫠😉😊😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃🫠😉😊😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃🫠😉😊😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃🫠😉😊😀😃😄😁😆🙂🙃🫠😉😊😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸😸🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵💙🩵🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️🧚‍♂️

[Luci · Rating 4 out of 5]

Delightful read. Lovely illustrations.

[Renee · Rating 5 out of 5]

There was a collection of Japanese Children’s stories in my elementary school that was the most sought after book in the library. It was a badge of honor to be the one to find it had been reshelved and carry it out on library day. I don’t think these are the same stories, but they have familiar tones and illustration techniques. The color pages are really lovely.

There’s an overall reverence for gentleness, unless you’re selflessly subduing a mythical creature. The poor, kind, childless couple is always noticed and rewarded by the universe. The greedy are always the butt of the joke.

[Gabriela Suchecki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Peach boys is one of the Japanese children’s stories. It is a Japanese folktale about a boy named Momotaro which means Peach boy. It is about the adventure that boy takes with his companionships and together they save the treasure that was stolen. This story shows courage and teamwork. I would love to have this book in my classroom because it shows the idea of bravery, teamwork, and loyalty to his parents. I think this story would be good for children kindergarten until third grade. I would read this story to my students during read aloud reading time.

[Leyla · Rating 4 out of 5]

Astronomi ve din ile alakalı üstü kapalı küçücük hikayeler. Kendini yiyecek olarak sunan tavşan, boğulup ölen küçük kardeş gibi çocuğa anlatmak için biraz hardcore bölümler vardı. Nedense japon kültürü beni biraz rahatsız ediyor ama rahatsız ettiğinin iki katı kadar da hoşuma gidiyor.

[Dano · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic!

[Mister · Rating 5 out of 5]

my favorite thing about this book was that all of the stories in it had happy endings. I also liked how all the stories taught a lesson.

[Kitty · Rating 4 out of 5]

We haven't read all of these yet, but we really liked the Peach Boy story.

[aem · Rating 4 out of 5]

Collection of Japanese folktales with watercolor illustrations

[Robyn Cain · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 8 year old and I enjoyed this. Interesting folk tales and cute illustrations.

[Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Super cute stories

[Katt Hansen · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I'm not familiar with a lot of folk tales from Japan, I was struck by how different some of these stories were...and how familiar others are. I'd be curious to know which ones were influenced by Western ideas - and which ones have influenced the Western world. The illustrations kept things interesting, and I liked this as an introduction but wished there were more to the book. The writing could have been better to make the stories more engaging for young readers, but overall this is a good jumping off point into Japanese folk tales.

[Jim Sibigtroth · Rating 3 out of 5]

Most of the stories in this collection are unfamiliar to an American child but some work well to demonstrate common Japanese cultural values. This can be useful to start a conversation with very young readers about what is different and what is the same about people who are from exotic far-away places. Some of the language is a little awkward as if it arises from direct translation rather than retelling in English.

[Ayaka Tamakoshi · Rating 3 out of 5]

-Tuttle Publishing
-Time:10/28=60minutes,and I'm still reading.
-7-word summary:
river/peach/boy/dumpling/fight/ogre/happy
-Discussion questions:
1.Have you ever read tales of old Japan in English.
Yes,I have. I have read one of them in Boston. I went to a public library with my host mother. She recommended me to read it.

2.Do you know many tales of old Japan?
No,I don't. That's another reason why I chose this book.

[Köksal KÖK · Rating 5 out of 5]

kitapta 38 değerli masal var, masalların teması, iyi ahlak, iyilik, erdem, çalışkanlık, insan iyi olmalı iyilik yapmalı ki iyilik bulsun, aç gözlü olursa kötü ahlaklı ise , haya ona zor derslerle öğretir, acı ve pişmanlıkla doğru yolu buldurur.

[Maverick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fairytales are an important part of childhood and I'm grateful to my mom for including japanese fairytales.

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Classic Japanese folk tales I remember fondly from my childhood.

[Vicki · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book as a child!

[Dave]

The publisher's note specifically mentions how it is important to understand different cultures, so I was interested to see how the tales would be presented.

I was interested to see a variety of translation strategies used when it came to names and Japanese terms. Sometimes names were preserved and the meaning of the names were glossed (e.g. Momotaro, Bumbuku), while others were translated (e.g. Princess White Flower, Prince Valorous). Japan-specific words were translated into more familiar western equivalents (e.g. oni -> ogre, tengu -> goblin).

The book is beautifully illustrated, though it seems like there was not much communication between the author and the illustrator, as the text and images sometimes depict things differently (e.g. the text of Momotaro describes dog and monkey biting and scratching the ogres; the illustration shows them in armor using swords).

As the foreword says, some of the tales mirror those of other cultures, but the tales presented here do a good job of representing some of the key values of Japanese culture: sharing, kindness, moderation, cleanliness, respect for nature, and prescribed gender roles.