**Winner of the Creative Child Magazine Book of the Year Award**
**Winner of the Gelett Burgess Award for Best Multicultural Book**
When wily animals, everyday people and magical beings come together in a collection of Japanese fairy tales, wonderful things are bound to happen!
Each story is brilliantly illustrated by a different talented Japanese artist. The tales recounted here are among Japan's oldest and most beloved stories. Entertaining and filled with subtle folk wisdom, these retold stories have been shared countless times in Japanese homes and schools for generations. Like good stories from every time and place, they never grow old. Kids (and their parents!) will enjoy hearing these stories read aloud on the accompanying audio recordings.
The fairy tales and classic stories in this collection include:
- The Wife Who Never Eats--the story of a man who learns the hard way the evils of stinginess.
- The Mill of the Sea--the story of how a greedy man was responsible for the saltiness of seawater.
- The Monkey and the Crab--the crabs teach a tricky monkey a lesson in fairness and honesty.
- The Magical Hood--an act of kindness reaps great rewards.
- Sleepyhead Taro and the Children--a story about what can be accomplished at the right time, and with the right help and the right spirit.
- The Fox and the Otter--how a fox pays the price of deceit and selfishness.
- The Gratitude of the Crane--a story about the rewards of kindness and the danger of curiosity.
- The Tale of the Bamboo Cutter--a girl who starts life very tiny turns out to be big in many ways.
All media content is alternatively accessible on the Tuttle Publishing website.
" Once Upon a Time in Japan is an ideal introduction to Japanese folktales...the publication's beautiful layout showcases a variety of award-winning Japanese illustrators." -- The Japan Times
"This collection has a very nice variety to the stories and are going to surprise readers if they are unaccustomed to Japanese myths and tales ... Readers will be fascinated by different takes on some familiar ideas as they are introduced to ancient stories from a culture with which they may not be familiar. A CD of the stories being read is included." -- Manhattan Book Review
"The moral lessons in these tales are universal and should transcend the reader's age...reading this book leads to a discovery about the nature of old folktales: A sprinkling of cruelty and weirdness help engrave moral lessons deeper on the minds of readers." -- The Japan News
NHK World is the international service of Japanese public broadcaster NHK. The stories published in this book were part of a special series produced by Radio Japan, NHK World's radio service in 18 languages.