The Little One

(Hardback)

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Description

Book cover reveal. Social media campaign on Instagram (32k following). Newsletter campaign to Enchanted Lion readers (10k list). Outreach to blogs and reviewers focused on translated literature. Interview with book's translator on Enchanted Lion blog. Promotion of title as part of Fall 2021 translation-focused list. Focused outreach to independent bookstores.

Reviews

A Bank Street College of Education Best Book of 2022

As is true of the best of Anthony Brownes many mysterious books, Tanakas leaves out the very thing that most writers start with, and the result is this expressive, wide-eyed look at grief, presented with the help of an imaginary friend. A small Japanese girl narrates that she starts seeing a black blob of a creature, with a walleyed gaze, sitting here and there in the city scenes that are part of her walk to school. One afternoon, she begins to follow the little one, who takes her to a secret opening in her own home that leads to a night of play. After so much fun, the small girl sleeps, then wakes up, noting she has dreamed of her mother. Her next encounter Her father shows up to hold her hand as they walk home together. Readers will wonder about the mother, and the dreams of the child, but it hardly matters. Something about her adventure with the little one has brought her peace. All of it unfolds in black and white ink drawings, giving the tale a timeless quality. Add this to collections about grief and loss; a parent has gone missing and a childs imagination saves her, in this poetic book of love and healing. STARRED REVIEW, School Library Journal

A mysterious creature befriends a young girl and leads her to a magical realm in this curious but comforting first-person tale... Together, girl and creature romp across wordless spreads, their fun wrapped in quietude, until they fall asleep cozily on an enormous fluffy forest creature... It is unclear if the adventure is a dream or a supernatural event, but the escapade appears to satisfy the childs longing for her mother, who is hinted as absent... Black-and-white copperplate etchings skillfully juxtapose the ordinary world with the shadowy wonderland, where luminescent fireflies and flowers glow. [A] poignant and engrossing narrative, full of layers to peel back, consider, and discuss. Kirkus Reviews

What a weird, wonderful, and touching book this is...Theillustrations and tone ofthebook strongly suggest a debt to Edward Gorey, with their delicate black-and-white copperplate etchings andthebizarrelittleone. But what at first seems odd and even vaguely threatening gradually becomes warm and friendly.Thelittlegirls mother is missing and althoughthebook provides no answers as tothewhere, when, or how of her disappearance,theresolution is comforting. This is an open ended story, with lots of room for children to fill in their own interpretations. Adults who object tothechild following a stranger or venturing into dark spaces need to get withthe(metaphorical) program. Susan Harari, Youth Services Book Review

Author Bio

Kiyo Tanaka was born in Kanagawa, Japan. After studying oil painting and printmaking at Tama Art University in Tokyo, she now works as a children's book author and illustrator, enjoying great success. She has participated in the illustrators' exhibition at the Bologna Book Fair in 1995 and 1996, as well as the Biennial of Illustrations in Bratislava in 2001, 2003, 2011, and 2019. Her illustrations use a technique of copper plate printing on Japanese paper, and she continues to produce and exhibit print works throughout Japan and internationally. She currently lives and works in Futo, Japan.

David Boyd is Assistant Professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His translations have appeared in Monkey Business International, Granta, and Words Without Borders, among other publications.