The Japanese will never confuse the sly tales of Shikoku with the cautionary tales of Okinawa, the romantic fantasies of Sado, or the fast-paced, action-packed lore of Honshu. Each Japanese prefecture, city and even village has its own folklore world with its own characters, plots and intonations. But no matter how different Japanese fairy tales are by place of birth, they have something in common. They are deeply poetic - it is no coincidence that poetic lines are often woven into the narrative, and real magic reigns in them - miracles are found here at every step.
It was the miracles that attracted the attention of the artist Gennady Kalinovsky in the first place. In his illustrations, thunderbolts and fiery lightning send rain with thunder and lightning to the earth; offenders of the weak grow long noses; furious devils on a chariot chase the escaped heroes; the sword turns into a formidable snake and rushes at the thief... Such scenes have become a field for experiments for the artist: he chooses a complex technique and builds unusual angles. And in addition, he makes small line drawings - ironic in meaning and elegant in execution.
Retelling from Japanese by Vera Markova.
For elementary school age.
Illustrations: Gennady Kalinovsky
Pages: 152 (offset). Hard cover
Dimensions: 248x209x14 mm
Series: Image of speech
