投稿日:

“Nontan”

Do you know “Nontan”?

Here’s one sample of Nontan.

The main character “Nontan” seems to be a cat, and I think this is a boy ( just a guess).

He has many friends like the rabbits,bears, birds and piggies.

The illustrator Sachiko Kiyono started this book in 1976 and she has died in 2008.

“Nontan” was read to many infants since the stories are about learning to get along with friends, how fun it is to swim, how wonderful it is to have your own birthday or celebrate one’s friend’s birthday, and so on.

It gave us Japanese kids ideas of basical important morals.

“Nontan” is not perfect and sometimes does mistakes but always somehow learns his lesson naturally through his experience, sometimes through his friends or sometimes from the weathers and sometimes he just realizes afterwards.

I have always loved his stories since all of them are very colorful and bright.

Even when Nontan is making mistakes, it doesn’t make you feel sad but make you feel like “what comes next? What is he going to learn from this??” You know that there is something better in the next few pages that always give you hope.

I can still remember how exciting I felt when I was reading this book as a young baby girl.

They are  simple illustrations with simple stories but very profound.

 

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Kirie (paper cutout)

“Kirie”, this is not a mis-spelling of “Kyrie”, I am trying to talk about a Japanese word “Kirie” that means “paper cutout” in English.

It is a form of an art using black paper cut out into various kinds of pictures. You can put the cutout paper over a white paper so that you can see a picture in white and black, or you can add color to the white part of the picture to make it colorful.

I hope you understand what I am talking about from the above images.

Aren’t they beautiful?

 

This form of art is originally from China and was brought into Japan in the ancient times. But the Japanese has added their original sense of art to this “Kirie” and became quite different from those of China. I like both but since I am Japanese, the Japanese kirie touches my heart more sensitively, that might be because I am able to understand it more profoundly.

 

Well, I’d like to introduce one artist of this world, his name is Shu Kubo.

Check out his official site

http://www.shu-kubo.com/index2.html#

It almost all in Japanese but here is the link to his gallery,

http://www.shu-kubo.com/html/gallery.html

you can see some of his arts.

I also found 2 of his kirie picture books  in both Japanese & English,

「民謡えほん 恋する民謡 Traditional Folk Songs of Love」

 

「民謡えほん 2 踊る民謡 Traditional Folk Songs of Dance」

 

 

I cound find this in Amazon.com but the latter one was found in Amazon.co.jp so I attached a link to the title as you can see.

 

Well, I hope this form of art gives you a new inspiriation to you and hopefully your child!!

 

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Kamishibai

Have you heard of “Kamishibai”?
This literally means “paper drama” and is a typical form of storytelling originated in Japan.

 

The storyteller holds up a huge size of pictures which size is about A1, and on the back of the pictures, the story is writtten so the story teller can read the story by showing the pictures to the audience in front while reading the story.

 

The great thing about this is that kids can share the story with their friends just by sitting in front of the storyteller and enjoy the pictures and the story realted to it. The story somehow feels always new every time  it is read, this is from my experience, so kids never get bored of it if the storyteller keeps changing his/her way of reading.

 

 

Aboves are the images of kamishibai in Japan. Even now, kamishibai interests most of the kids, even kids playing Nintendo may stop and switch off the device and gather in front of the storyteller.

 

 There are some links that introduces kamishibai in English so if you are interested in it, plese take a look at the site.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kamishibai

http://www.kamishibai.com/

http://www.janm.org/janmkids/kamishibai.php

 

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Bam & Kero

Have you ever heard of the picture book series “Bam & Kero” ?

If you have not, this might be a good chance to know a very cute kids book, pretty much famous in Japan. It is quite a new touch compared to traditional Japanese kids book.

The illustrator, Yuka Shimada now lives in Toronto, Canada, and absorbs in her work.

Bam & Kero series starts with a dog named Bam, the protagonist, and his frog friend  Kero. The stories are all very short and simple, and adorable!

 

They are few English versions that I could find so only Japanese readers are available to fully enjopy these books but since Ms.Shimada lives in Toronto, I am hoping that she will have more English versions for Bam & Kero series so that more kids (and moms and dads!) can enjoy them!!

Hope you like this new touch of picture book from the Japanese culture!!

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Anpanman

Hello,

I hope you all had a lovely day yesterday on St.Valentines day.

I went out with my husband to enjoy Indian dinner with our friends.

It was nice to share times and stories with them.

 

Well, today, I’d like to introduce Anpanman,

a long-term animated Japanese hero, one of the most beloved

hero in Japan.

I have never heard of kids who does not know Anpanman.

 

He is always strong and very kind to the people in town.

The black coloured character is called Baikinman,

and he is always trying to bother Anpanman, but fails.

 

The stories always includes moral lessons to kids (and maybe for grown-ups too) so the kids naturally learns alot just by watching or reading the stories.

 

I don’t know why he is so loved and famous for such a long time by almost all Japanese but I suppose the author and illustrator of Anpanman, Mr.Yanase is the key person to this clue.

He must be a very rich man with high reputation but I never felt him boast of himself or any kind of arrogance in his words and attitudes.

He has a sense of humor added with full of love for people, especially for kids.

I respect him very much for that.

I don’t know how much Anpanman is known outside Japan but I hope non-Japanese speakers get the chance to watch or read Anpanman.

By the way, my favorite character is Baikinman, the black one in the above illustration. He does trouble Anpanman often but that is simply because Baikinman just wants to join the group of kids to play together but does not have enough courage to say that and act as he feels. I know many people who are like Baikinman and maybe sometimes I am like him.

So there are no simple bad guys in this Anpanman series, all the characters have their personality and are to be loved.

If this is your first time to hear about Anpanman, I hope this information was a good news and new impression for you!!!

 

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Hello Meon Blog English readers!!

Hello,  thank you for visiting Meon Book.

I am looking forward to introducing many kinds of topics relating to picture books, kids and babies (since I am pregnant, I am really interested in this topic), and all othre kinds of thing to blog about.

There are so many great picture books in the world, and for those English speakers, I’d especially like to introduce great Japanese picture books that might give you new ideas. I know there are so many great picture books all around the world and I am trying to introduce them to Japanese speakers who are not familiar to English, so am trying to do the opposite, too.

Well, today,
I am going out for dinner with my friends and going to enjoy my favorite Indian food so can’t wait for the time to come!!!

I hope you all have a very nice afternoon!!
See you at my next blog.

 

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

How about a complete original picture book,

your own story,your own message,

to your love ones, families and friends for,

Birthday, Wedding ceremony, Farewell party, and so on.

*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*　*

投稿日:

Hello world!

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