Book Review, children's literature, fairy tale, Fiction, N3

[N3] 親指姫(おやゆびひめ)

Thumbelina is born from a flower her mother received from a witch, but she is no taller than a thumb (jp: 親指(おやゆび))! The animals of the forest are fascinated by her and take her along to live with them. This fairy tale was originally written by Hans Christian Andersen, the famous Danish writer. It was… Continue reading [N3] 親指姫(おやゆびひめ)

Book Review, fairy tale, Fiction, graded reader, N5

[N5] うらしま たろう

Urashima Tarō is a Japanese folklore character. He rescues a turtle and rides on its back to the bottom of the sea, where the beautiful ocean princess Otohime is waiting for him. This retelling for N5 has rather short sentences, but includes some more unusual words. At about 5 sentences per page, it is also… Continue reading [N5] うらしま たろう

Book Review, fairy tale, Fiction, N3

[N3] かぐや姫(ひめ)

This version of the fairy tale of Princess Kaguya for learners with N3 abilities was written by Takahashi Sōko for a graded reader series by ask and NPO Tagengo Tadoku. I've introduced it already during the #letsreadkaguyahime reading challenge. Kaguya is found inside fresh cut bamboo as a child and grows up to become a… Continue reading [N3] かぐや姫(ひめ)

Book Review, fairy tale, Fiction, N3

[N3] 赤ずきんちゃん

This post is part of the reading challenge. I've read the fairy tale of Little Red Riding Hood in fairy tale database hukumusume's version. This retelling was the longest of all versions I've put together for the challenge. This was mostly because there was a lot of dialog added while also keeping the descriptions.… Continue reading [N3] 赤ずきんちゃん

Book Review, fairy tale, graded reader, N4

[N4] ヘンゼルとグレーテル

The fairy tale "Hänsel und Gretel" is a famous German fairy tale collected by the Brothers Grimm: Siblings Hansel and Gretel are left in the woods by their parents and encounter a wicked witch. This version is a retelling in simple Japanese by the NPO Tagengo Tadoku. I grew up with Grimm's fairy tales as… Continue reading [N4] ヘンゼルとグレーテル

Book Review, fairy tale, graded reader, N5

[N5] かぐやひめ

This post is part of the #letsreadkaguyahime challenge. The fairy tale of Princess Kaguya for learners with N5 abilities was written by Yoshida Noriko for the Malaysia Books Tadoku project. What makes this retelling so special are the handmade origami figures by Ishibashi Naoko as well as the fact, that this story features no kanji.… Continue reading [N5] かぐやひめ