Children's books based on Japanese Folklore recorded by Lafcadio Hearn

Hearn, Lafcadio. Japanese Fairy Tales by Lafcadio Hearn and others. Boni and Liverright: New York, 1918. [Reprinted several times] (Ages 8+)

Hearn wrote the first four stories which are Chin-Chin Kobakama, The Goblin-Spider, The Old Woman Who Lost Her Dumplings, and The Boy Who Drew Cats. . "The others are by Grace James, Professor Basil Hall Chamberlain and others." The other stories are The Silly Jelly-Fish, The Hare of Inaba, Shippeitaro, The Matsuyama Mirror, My Lord Bag-o'-Rice, The Serpent with Eight Heads, The Old Man and the Devils, The Tongue-Cut Sparrow, The Wooden Bowl, The Tea-Kettle, Urashima, Green Willow, The Flute, Reflections, The Spring Lover and the Autumn Lover, Momotaro.

These tellings of these stories show their age. However, I recommend using them for comparison.

Japanese fairy tales, by Lafcadio Hearn and others; with illus. by Sonia Roetter. Mount Vernon, N.Y., Peter Pauper Press [c1948]

Hearn wrote Chin-Chin Kobakama. The old woman and her dumpling. The goblin spider. The fountain of youth. Urashima. The boy who drew cats.

Also includes: The man who did not wish to die. The green willow. The chariot that pointed south. The loving dog. The foolish jelly-fish. Mother in the mirror.

Updated from the earlier version, but still tales over fifty years old. The tales will need some editing for modern listeners.

Hodges, Margaret. The boy who drew cats / adapted by Margaret Hodges ; illustrated by Aki Sogabe. New York : Holiday House, c2002.

And

The boy who drew cats : a Japanese folktale / retold by Arthur A. Levine ; pictures by Frederic Clement. New York : Dial Books for Young Readers, c1994.

Magical story of mystery and a little gore. Adapted from Hearn's "The Boy Who Drew Cats" in Japanese Fairy Tales, Boni and Liverright: New York, 1918.

The Wave

by

Margaret Hodges

Hodges, Margaret. The wave. Adapted from Lafcadio Hearn's Gleanings in Buddha-fields by Margaret Hodges. Illustrated by Blair Lent. Boston, Houghton Mifflin Co., 1964.

Old man selflessly and cleverly saves villagers from a tsunami. Illustrations are dated, but the story is still worth retelling.

Martin Rafe. Mysterious tales of Japan / [expanded, developed, and reinterpreted] by Rafe Martin ; illustrated by Tatsuro Kiuchi. New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1996. Storyteller's Look at Mysterious Tales

Excellent addition to Hearnian literature. Includes Urashima Tar¯o -- Green willow -- Ho-Ichi the earless -- The snow woman -- Kogi -- The crane maiden -- The pine of Akoya -- A frog's gift-- The boy who drew cats -- Black hair. Includes story notes detailing each stories origin. This volume's Crane Maiden and Pine of Akoya are not based on Hearn's tales.

Partridge, Elizabeth. Kogi's mysterious journey / adapted by Elizabeth Partridge ; illustrated by Aki Sogabe. New York : Dutton Children's Books, 2003.

Kogi is an artist who experiences the life of a fish. Sogabe's cut paper illustrations are bright and detailed.