Japan
Night on the Milky Way Train (and nine other stories)
By Kenji Miyazawa, Roger Pulvers (Translator)
Night on the Milky Way Train (and nine other stories). Kenji Miyazawa. Translated by Roger Pulvers. Balestier Press, 2020. Originally published as 銀河鉄道の夜, in Japanese. Night on the Milky Way Train was first published in 1934. ISBN 9781911221852. 186 p. (Ages 10 and up). Fiction.
From the publisher: “This amazing story of two boys who find themselves on a miraculous train running through the heavens, has entranced Japanese readers for many years. What happens to the boys is a tale of both immense sorrow and equally immense hope.” “Night on the Milky Way Train” is widely considered a Japanese children’s classic, and the author has been compared to Lewis Carroll, Hans Christian Andersen, and the Brothers Grimm. Translator is the recipient of the 2008 Miyazawa Kenji Prize. [all]
Latin America
Argentina
Jungle Tales
By Horacio Quiroga, Jeff Zorrilla (Translator), Bert van Wijk (Illustrator)
Jungle Tales. Horacio Quiroga. Translated by Jeff Zorrilla. Illustrated by Bert van Wijk. Brigham Distributing, 2013, c2012. Originally published as Cuentos de la Selva in Spanish, in Argentina, in 1918. ISBN 9780615708072. 87 p. (Ages 9-11). Fiction.
There are many translations of this classic collection of eight short stories well known to schoolchildren in Argentina: this one, a large-format paperback, marries an engaging tone with bright, stylized artwork by Dutch illustrator Bert van Wijk. The stories revolve around human-animal and animal-animal alliances and incursions. There is an original pourquoi story about how the flamingos got their red legs. And a story of great heroism and self-sacrifice in which a giant tortoise walks hundreds of kilometers to carry his sick friend, a man, from the jungle to safety in Buenos Aires. The illustrated glossary of jungle animals is an especially nice touch. [ayg]