Discussing the Children's Literature I Read This Month [May 2026]

This is a continuation.

Since I spent almost the entire month reading a Haruki Murakami novel (see above), I barely read any children's literature. After all, if I started including Murakami in children's literature, anything would go... (Though I'm sure many people read him in junior high, and there are probably elementary school students who read him too, but that could be said for any book).

Miku Ito, 'Ichika-chan'

Illustrated by Ikumi Nakata, 2024, Kumon Publishing

This is part of the children's book series by Miku Ito that I have been reading since January.

Ichika-chan is a second-grader who is a bit of a 'scatterbrain.' Without using terms like neurodiversity or developmental disabilities, the story depicts how children with diverse personalities live while interacting with each other, seen through the eyes of a cousin who spends time with Ichika-chan.
I was surprised by the slight fantasy element of a fox wedding.
Ikumi Nakata's gentle line drawings were also wonderful!

Chika Ishikawa, 'Made in Fourteen'

2020, Kodansha

I read in JanuaryI also want to read more works by Chika Ishikawa, whose book 'The Infirmary Needs a Witch' was wonderful.

This work has a bizarre premise... an 'invisible person' moves into a second-year junior high class. However, what it's trying to depict under that setting is the violent behavior of the majority toward a strange minority. It's a very serious theme, but the protagonist, a 'natural-born honor student,' has such a great character that it doesn't feel preachy, which is exactly what you'd expect from her.

The writing is consistently wonderful, and while it tackles anti-discrimination in children's literature very seriously, it also manages to be fun to read without forgetting its pop sensibility and comical elements.
It is amazing how it can distill the idea that discrimination is created by the consciousness of the discriminator, not by the attributes of the discriminated, into such entertainment.

I love how it affirms the figures of children who survive reality while still needing 'stories'.

Chika Ishikawa, 'Electronic Labyrinth'

2024, Rironsha

I liked 'Made in Fourteen' so I read another work by Chika Ishikawa.

Smartphone addiction x the horror of grooming... is that what you would call this awareness-raising novel? The content was quite scary, and it didn't suit my tastes.

If it is meant to be an awareness-raising piece about being careful of internet addiction and grooming by strangers (adults), then the shojo manga-esque hetero-romance elements between Natsuko and Eri felt unnecessary. Readers might think that if they can have such a heart-fluttering encounter, it doesn't matter if they get addicted to the internet or follow suspicious people. In that sense, I felt it was a somewhat half-baked work.

It seems it was 'published as an internet communication novel on NHK Online.' I wonder if that background had an influence.

~~Picture books from here on~~

Following last month, I read mainly classic picture books discussed in Taro Gomi's 'Trying to Read Picture Books'.

Dick Bruna, 'Miffy in the Snow'

Netherlands, 1963 (Japanese translation 1964, Momoko Ishii), Fukuinkan Shoten

I read a few books from Bruna's 'Miffy' series.
The overwhelmingly simple and abstracted pictures, combined with Momoko Ishii's somewhat sophisticated translation style, are irresistible.

In 'Miffy in the Snow,' first of all, Miffy's outfit on a snowy day is cute.
And I was impressed by the extremely limited number of colors. The blue of the sky and the ground even extends to her clothes (coat). The hat that covers her ears, the scarf, and the shoes are all the same color.
I admire this sense of color.

Arnold Lobel, 'Owl at Home'

USA, 1975 (Japanese translation 1976, Taku Miki), Bunka Publishing Bureau

Arnold Lobel of 'Frog and Toad Are Friends'. Of course, I reread 'Frog and Toad Are Friends' too, and as Taro Gomi says, I thought, 'You can't just read this as a simple pastoral story of friendship (BL) between two people,' but it's still a masterpiece. However, I like 'Owl at Home' even more.

The ultimate solo play, one-man show, and solo performance.
It's incredible.
It also makes me think about the existential form of third-person narration in picture books.

Uri Shulevitz, 'Dawn'

Poland, USA, 1974 (Japanese translation first edition 1977), Fukuinkan Shoten

It was too amazing. Picture books are amazing.
I love the outlines of the illustration frames, which look like blue and red mixing and swaying.

I want to read many picture books and think about what is created by adding text to something that could stand as a 'story' even with just a sequence of pictures.

Chihiro Iwasaki, 'Pochi's Coming Sea'

1974, Shikosha

The double-page spread of the train window is amazing, and the double-page spread of the sea goes without saying. I realized, 'Oh, so that's how waves could be expressed!'
The color scheme is also unbelievable to an ordinary person. The paper quality and printing were also wonderful.

Tomi Ungerer, 'Oh, What a Mess!'

France, 2019 (Japanese translation 2025), Kogakusha

"Reading Picture Books" introduces "I Hate Kisses," and I was completely floored by its hard-boiled sensibility. (I also want to re-read "The Three Robbers.")

And then there is Tomi Ungerer's posthumous work, "Yaba!" (Oh No!).

The protagonist wanders through an extremely abstract near-future? modern? city, guided by a shadow. I felt a touch of Haruki Murakami in this mysterious world-building (as I happened to be reading him at the time).

Or perhaps it's more like Maki Sasaki, who does the cover art?

With its shadow effects in the text and color expression, it's also quite interesting from a typographic perspective;
I also thought it could be turned into a game.

In short, if one were to take the cynical view of asking what the work is trying to say... perhaps it is a socially conscious piece that, while conveying the harshness and terror of the world to children who must live in the future, depicts a figure somehow living stubbornly within it. Non Stop! as it were.
It seems likely that his war experiences and the rapid modernization during and after the war are also in the background.

Taro Gomi, "Madama Madama Madama" (Still Still Still)

2021, Kaisei-sha

The title presentation is truly too cool. I really want you to read it for yourself and experience it.

The dog that starts following along halfway through also turns out to be a great gimmick that encourages a second read-through once you notice it.

It's been true since his debut work "Michi" (The Road), but I realized that Taro Gomi is also an author who depicts the modern city. After all, he was in the field of industrial design before he started creating picture books. Works like "Soshite Inu wa Hashitte Yukimasu" (And Then the Dog Runs) also express that stance very well and are incredibly cool.

Taro Gomi, "Bibibibi"

1994, Kaisei-sha

I think this is a masterpiece where Taro Gomi's background as an industrial designer achieves a brilliant harmony with Taro Gomi the picture book author. It is seriously cool.

My motivation for foreign literature is coming back, and I'm also busy playing games, so it looks like I'll read even less in June. It can't be helped, I guess.

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