Udon Noodle Soup: Little Tales for Little Things

by Yani Hu

NOT SO LITTLE PERHAPS Two children are close neighbors and love playing together. Then one day they are separated when one of the families moves to the other side of the world. But the boy leaves her a special present and a promise. 20 years later a flavor awakens her memories. As she grows older and raises a family, a woman holds on to her memories of a first love and a toothbrush. A hand made gift and a small lie lead to great upset. A mother's gift for knitting lays unappreciated until it is almost too late. A soccer shirt is a poor substitute for the idol that should be wearing it. Yani Hu whips up a recipe of adolescent love in its many forms in these five not-so-little stories from this debut graphic novelist in English.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Comics, Manga, Short Stories, Graphic Novels Comics, China, Asia

120 pages, Paperback

Published May 31, 2018

About the author

Yani Hu is a Chinese artist and graphic novelist. She lives in Berlin, Germany.

Weibo account: @亚尼-Yani
gracg account: 亚尼
Insta: yani_hu_art
FB: Yani Hu 亚尼

Reviews

[Katherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This slim book of short stories has such beautiful artwork that instantly evokes feelings and setting. I just wish some of these stories were deeper, or examined characters' motivations in more detail.

[Ruben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Les històries són quotidianes, no acaba de passar mai res… però les il·lustracions, amb aquarel·la, fan enamorar des del primer minut.

[Mizuna · Rating 2 out of 5]

the stories were like ok nothing special predictable, the art was amazing.

[Noemí Cuevas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cada página de esta novela gráfica es una maravilla. Me gustan las historias cortas que dan justo donde deben dar. No son fáciles de escribir. Como en cualquier novela asiática, puedes quedarte con la superficie o ir más allá y que deje huella en ti. Yo he optado por la segunda.

[Juan Fuentes · Rating 3 out of 5]

Como dice el título son relatos de lo cotidiano que a veces te emocionan más (como los jerseys de su madre) y otras menos. Todo muy doméstico y tierno.

[Tatiana Alejandra de Castro Pérez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una sorpresa muy inesperada que encontré mirando entre los estantes de la biblioteca.

Este cómic es una recopilación de pequeñas historias y todas ellas tienen un pequeño punto de tristeza, pero aún así, todas tienen un toque diferente a pesar de que compartan la infancia y adolescencia como punto de unión temática.

[Alex Pler · Rating 3 out of 5]

"Desde que era niña, todos esos jerséis de mamá que tenía eran simples, pero eran de buena calidad, y muy cálidos. Eran como el amor de mi madre, sencillo y nada exagerado. Pero su calor constante me había acompañado en el camino."

[Majaponismo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Le doy 5, por esas historias tan distintas y tan bonitas a la vez. Es una dulzura de gráficos y de cómo pones cara de boba.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, poignant stories about love and loss. Beautiful art that marries a manga style to a looser, graphic novel approach.

[Eva · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bonitas acuarelas. Destaco especialmente dos historias, la de la niña de 4º y los rumores y la última.

[Sara Letture · Rating 5 out of 5]

Questa graphic novel si divide in 5 piccole storie d’amore - come annunciato anche dal sottotitolo italiano - che sono “little tales for little things” - come da sottotitolo originale.

Sono storie a fumetti brevi ed intense, capaci di racchiudere tutte le sfumature dell’amore: quello infantile, quello di una madre per una figlia, quello non corrisposto, quello di due fidanzati che si lasciano e quello idealizzato.

Le storie raccontano della potenza delle piccole cose, come oggetti e gesti quotidiani, che col passare del tempo rivelano la loro importanza.

Se l’amore è il protagonista delle storie, il tempo che scorre inesorabile, donando un senso ad ogni cosa ne è il filo conduttore.

Le atmosfere di questi racconti sono dolci e malinconiche, tanto da riuscire a donare una potenza evocativa intensa ai sentimenti.

All’estero, Udon Noodle Soup è indicato per una fascia d’età 13-18 anni e mi trova d’accordo , perché rappresenta in modo semplice attraverso le immagini e i dialoghi qualcosa di difficile comprensione a quella età.
Ma io ne consiglio la lettura a qualsiasi età, perché a dire il vero le conseguenze dell’amore e del passare del tempo non hanno limiti.

[Michel Siskoid Albert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A warm bowl of soup. A home-made sweater. An old toothbrush. A childhood toy. A football shirt. These are the object around which Yani Hu crafts five short stories in Udon Noodle Soup: Little Tales for Little Things. Each is a thin slice of life, one presumes even pseudo-biographical (at least in tone), lavishly drawn and colored, usually on textured paper. The book is beautiful to look at and sucks you into its mundane yet romantic world of young people making realizations about their inner emotional lives, each object explored a vessel for the memory of a certain love, whether gone or alive or perhaps waiting to be reignited, so long as the object remains. Though the stories are grounded, Hu doesn't forbid herself flights of artistic fancy, whether her characters' imagination or interesting graphic touches, experimentations that never take you out of the book. Can you infuse an object with an emotion? Hu says yes, and proceeds to do so with every page of her book.

[Tana · Rating 4 out of 5]

Este pequeño libro, pequeño y grande al mismo tiempo, nos da justo lo que promete: relatos de lo cotidiano que nos presentan el amor agridulce y la pérdida, de la niñez y la juventud. Desde un objeto que se rechaza por ser de elaboración casera cuando lo que anhelamos es algo manufacturado y de última moda, hasta la idealización de una pareja, pasando por una pequeña mentira que puede hacer mucho daño, un objeto carente de encanto que atesoramos toda la vida o una sopa de udon servida en el presente que nos retrotrae al pasado.
Las ilustraciones a acuarela son preciosas.

[Alba Valls · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una novel·la gràfica de petites històries precioses i petites, des de una mare que fa jerseis a la seva filla fins a una nena i el seu company de pupitre, passant per una parella que ho deixa i té un tema amb un raspall de dents o una noia enamorada de l'amic del seu germà gran.

Fa venir ganes de viure, i de fixar-se amb els petits detalls, tot i que les coses siguin més grans i complicades. Molt molt molt bonica! <3

[Chechu Rebota · Rating 4 out of 5]

Recopilación de pequeños relatos que giran alrededor de las relaciones humanas, reflexionando sobre el amor, ya sea romántico o entre madre e hija y el paso del tiempo. Las historias son amables y agradecidas, sencillas pero capaces de transmitir mucho.

Por su lado el dibujo es una maravilla, los personajes son reconocibles y el coloreado le da mucha vida.

[malombra. · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a heartfelt little collection of illustrated short stories. What drawn me toward this books was the tagline “little tales for little things”, since I’m craving for wholesome simplicity these days and these short stories proved themselves to be simple but sharp and emotionally intense. The artwork - a combination of manga style and western graphic novel style - reminded my a bit of the work of Jiro Taniguchi with soft colours and poignant characterisation. I really enjoyed it! My fav stories were ‘Made by mama’, ‘Toothbrush and love’, ‘Pinocchio and ping pong rabbit’.

[Nicole Magolan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely little collection of stories each revolving around a specific item, such as a toothbrush, a toy bunny, or a bowl of udon noodle soup. Beautiful artwork and gentle, wholesome stories. Highly recommend for those days when the world feels a bit too heavy.

[Isthar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pequeñas historias llenas de encanto. Buenos dibujos.

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute

[Helena Soldevilla]

"Tienes que prometerme que te vas a cuidar mucho."

[Lia Mourie · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really liked the art style and thought this was a lovely collection of short stories. I’m glad I picked it up.

[Emily Speller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice book for reading in a language you are learning. Really lovely illustrations!

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Shirt vignettes, beautifully drawn, with much emotion.

I will use this in English classes to teach about multimodality!

[Kitsu · Rating 4 out of 5]

Es muy bonito!!! Me gustaría que editaran más obras de la autora.

[Luise · Rating 4 out of 5]

the artstyle is so pretty and soothing i love

[LaurenAlexandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very cute set of stories. Interesting to see other artists poimts of view in life and the little things that matter make us who we are.

[Andrea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Stories to make you feel and think, and art that goes straight to your heart.

[Laura · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[María Echevarría · Rating 3 out of 5]

Las historias son, como indica el título, bastante cotidianas y muy fáciles de seguir. Las ilustraciones son preciosas y transmiten a la perfección las emociones de los protagonistas de los relatos.

[Ari A · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un maga con preciosas ilus
a todo color que se compone de 5 relatos entrañables que te dejan un gusto agridulce como la salsa china.