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Sato the Rabbit, The Moon by Yuki Ainoya tr. Michael Blaskowsky

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 28 Jan 2021

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“Sato, in text and (gorgeous) pictures, is industrious, curious, experimental, and focused, using the found materials around him to fashion inventions (a curtain made of rain, a rolled-up red carpet made of fallen leaves) that enhance his surroundings and provide an arena for his imagination. In other words, Sato is every child at play.” Horn Book
“The artwork pops with color and texture and depicts beautiful, dreamlike vistas. Sato endears himself to readers; he is inquisitive, clever, and generous… A welcome return.” KIRKUS
“Each episode is over in a few pages, and every one offers kaleidoscopic, pleasingly sensorial images made for dreaming on.” Publishers Weekly

Pastoral and surreal, the seven short tales in this collection are a celebration of the senses, and of the harmony that can exist between a gentle creature such as Sato the Rabbit and the natural world. Whether it’s a pillow of cool, fresh water offered to him for a nap by the spring on a blisteringly hot day, a fragrant floral air float to carry him and his dreams, a hole in his hat, through which he discovers a midsummer forest full of singing cicadas, or a moon basket, nature’s offerings are a bounty to be marveled at and enjoyed. The second book in a whimsical trilogy from Japan, this collection of stories invites readers to embrace the wonders of nature, the transportive power of the senses, and the transformation of the imagination. Because, as Sato shows us, the beauty that we see in the world is actively created by the eyes which perceive it and the imagination that conceives it.

The first Sato The Rabbit title was an ACHUKA Book of the Day last April.

A third, and possibly final, book about Sato — Sato the Rabbit, A Sea of Tea — will be out in the UK this summer.

Follow Yuki Ainoya on Instagram:

Saving Celeste by Timothee de Fombelle ill. Sarah Ardizzone

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In this incredibly moving and powerful story about climate change by one of France’s greatest writers for children, the world is run by !ndustry and the only thing that matters is to buy, buy, buy. People live in crowded cities where cars are stacked vertically and shopping centres run miles into the sky. On the day Celeste starts school on the 110th floor of a tower block, she meets a lonely, young boy. The next day she doesn’t return. Her blood has become as polluted as the seas and rivers. On a mission to save her, the boy battles the forces of !ndustry and takes her far, far away. Will the world realise the truth of Celeste’s disease? Will there be time for her, and the planet, to recover?

The Edelweiss Pirates by Dirk Reinhardt tr. Rachel Ward

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When sixteen-year-old Daniel befriends Josef Gerlach, he feels the old man is haunted by a secret from his past. Sure enough when Josef gives him his teenage diary to read, Daniel discovers a shocking story of rebellion and struggle.

The diary tells how Josef left the Hitler Youth for a gang called The Edelweiss Pirates. Their uniform: long hair and cool clothes. Their motto: freedom!

At first the Pirates are only interested in hanging out and having a good time, but as the situation in Nazi Germany gets worse, they start to plan dangerous missions against Hitler’s regime. Soon they are fighting for their lives.

Sato the Rabbit by Yuki Ainoya tr. Michael & Shizuka Blaskowsky

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 5 Apr 2021

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“In lushly painted, highly immersive vignettes, we’re shown that while Sato wears a costume, his sensory nature has been transformed. The taste of watermelon spreads throughout his body. He cracks a walnut and finds rooms inside. He plucks a cloud from a puddle’s reflection and hangs it over his bed, where he ‘sips stories’ from melted multicolored ice containing the emotions of a fully lived and dreamed life.” NEW YORK TIMES
“Sweet, surreal and contemplative.” KIRKUS
“In a set of seven small vignettes that span the seasons, Sato’s daily activities — watering the garden, doing the laundry, splashing in puddles — turn into magic. Cracking open a walnut reveals an inviting miniature world. Eating a watermelon turns into a seafaring adventure. (“Nothing compares to eating watermelon on the sea.”) Observing a meteor shower leads to a star-collection mission. Paintings in a naive style burst with saturated color — watermelon red, night-sky blue, spring chartreuse.” HORN BOOK

“One day, Haneru Sato became a rabbit. He’s been a rabbit ever since.” With these surrealist, yet matter-of-fact opening lines, we are transported to a world very much like our own, yet one that is imbued with an added dimension of wonder and curiosity. In Sato’s world, ordinary objects and everyday routines can lead to magical encounters: a rain puddle, reflecting the sky, becomes a window that can be opened and peered through. A walnut is cracked open to reveal a tiny home, complete with a bathtub and a comfy bed. During a meteor shower, Sato catches stars in a net, illuminating the path home for a family taking an evening walk. This whimsical tale is the first in a trilogy from Japan.

 

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Yuki Ainoya is Japanese and studied  painting at the Tama Art University Faculty of Art and Design. She was the winner of the the Crayon House Children’s Book Grand Prize in 1990 and the 12th Japanese Children’s Book Award in 2007 for the original Japanese edition of this book.

This translated version is published by Enchanted Lion Books, an independent children’s book publisher based in Brooklyn, New York publishing illustrated books from around the world.

A fascinating and richly illustrated discussion with the book’s translating team:
Part One
Part Two

Agnes’s Place by Marit Larsen ill. Jenny Lovlie tr. Kari Dickson

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 15 Mar 2021

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“The text and illustrations work in tandem to bring the magic of apartment living and new friendship to life. Shapes, lines and colors create movement and a strong visual throughline, helping readers’ eyes navigate detailed illustrations full of the messy, vibrant elements of life. Patterns and textures add another layer of cozy charm…A love letter to new friendships and apartment living.” KIRKUS

Agnes knows she is at home before she even opens her eyes in the morning. The sounds and smells and people swirl around her—she always knows what everyone is up to in the tight-knit apartment building where she lives. But she also knows what it is like to be the only child in a place full of adults who never have time.

So when a little girl moves in to the building, Agnes is excited and sends her a subtle message. But the girl doesn’t respond. Then things start to change around Agnes’s place—and Agnes knows exactly who is to blame. It seems like the girl is interested in everyone except for Agnes!

Will Agnes and the new girl ever meet? And what secrets does the new girl hold? First published in Norway, this is a lovely story about home and belonging and how one person can transform our world.

There are occasional textual stumblings in the way this book has been copyedited but these are more than compensated for by the general drift of the story and particularly by Jenny Lovlie’s splendid artwork.
Find out more about the illustrator: https://www.achuka.co.uk/blog/meet-an-illustrator-7-jenny-lovlie/

Marit Larsen is a Norwegian singer and songwriter. This is her first book.

 

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The Lost Soul by Olga Tokarczuk tr. Antonia Lloyd-Jones ill. Joanna Concejo

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ACHUKA Book of the Year 2021
ACHUKA Book of the Day 12 Mar 2021

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“In a time of uncertainty, stagnation, and grief, Tokarczuk and Concejo offer consolation—that we too might stop and recognize what is enough, endure our own “peaceful winters,” and possibly let go of the craving for more than that.” World Literature Today
“it was the illustrator’s idea to personify the soul as a young girl, and to represent the growth of the man’s soul in pots full of plants, notably tumbling geraniums.” Guardian

‘Once upon a time there was a man who worked very hard and very quickly, and who had left his soul far behind him long ago. In fact his life was all right without his soul – he slept, ate, worked, drove a car and even played tennis. But sometimes he felt as if the world around him were flat, as if he were moving across a smooth page in a math book that was covered in evenly spaced squares…’

“The tender illustrations offer fine details that sink deep into the memory.” Annie Proulx
“Tokarczuk and Concejo offer their readers another way to see the velocity of days, the grace in waiting, and time itself. Turning Concejo’s pages of wonderful drawings gave me a much-needed pause, and a reassuring perspective on loss, patience, and reward.” Leanne Shapton

The Lost Soul is a deeply moving reflection on our capacity to live in peace with ourselves, to remain patient and attentive to the world. It is a story that beautifully weaves together the voice of the Nobel Prize-winning Polish novelist Olga Tokarczuk and the finely detailed pen-and-ink drawings of illustrator Joanna Concejo, who together create a parallel narrative universe full of secrets, evocative of another time.

Follow Joanna Concego on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joannaconcejo/

The Night Walk by Marie Dorléans

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 25 Jan 2021

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Translated from French; the original edition won the prestigious Prix Landerneau in the best children’s picture book category.

Mama opened our bedroom door. “Come on, you two,” she whispered. “We need to go now, to get there on time.” Excited, the sleepy family step outside into a beautiful summer evening. They’ve entered a night-time world, quiet and shadowy, filled with fresh smells and amazing sights. Is this what they miss when they’re asleep? Together, they walk out of their sleeping village. What will they find in the dark landscape? This beautiful and evocative book movingly recalls family trips and the excitement of unknown adventure, while celebrating the awe-inspiring power of the natural world.

Hear Marie read from a previous picture book, The Epic Race, in the original French:

Marie Dorléans studied Art and History of Art at the School of Decorative Arts in Strasbourg, France. She graduated in 2010 and has worked as a children’s book illustrator since then.

Telephone Tales by Gianni Rodari ill. Valerio Vidali tr. Antony Shugaar

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Every night, at nine o’clock, wherever he is, Mr. Bianchi, an accountant who often has to travel for work, calls his daughter and tells her a bedtime story. But since it’s still the 20th-century world of payphones, each story has to be told in the time that a single coin will buy. Reminiscent of Scheherazade and One Thousand and One Nights, Gianni Rodari’s Telephone Tales is composed of many stories–in fact, seventy short stories, with one for each phone call. Each story is set in a different place and a different time, with unconventional characters and a wonderful mix of reality and fantasy. One night, it’s a carousel so beloved by children that an old man finally sneaks on to understand why, and as he sails above the world, he does. Or, it’s a land filled with butter men, roads paved with chocolate, or a young shrimp who has the courage to do things in a different way from what he’s supposed to do.

Awarded the Hans Christian Anderson Award in 1970, Gianni Rodari is widely considered to be Italy’s most important children’s author of the 20th century. Newly re-illustrated by Italian artist Valerio Vidali, Telephone Tales entertains, while questioning and imagining other worlds.

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How Jack Lost Time by Stephanie Lapointe ill. Delphie Cote-Lacroix tr. Arielle Aaronson (translator)

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 23 Nov 2020
Winner of the 2019 Governor General’s Award for Youth Literature—French Language

Poignant, original, and vibrant, this contemporary nautical fable journeys into the heart of the human spirit, and will move readers young and old.

Jack is not like other sea captains. Fishermen say he’s weird, but Jack only cares about one thing: the grey whale with the scarred dorsal fin, the one who swallowed up his son, Julos, years before. Jack promises he will not come home without Julos, even if it means losing himself in the process. Then, on a night like any other, Jack sees something lurking around his boat. He throws himself into the whale’s dark mouth. But is he too late? Will his son recognize him after years of being alone?

STÉPHANIE LAPOINTE is a singer, actress, documentary director, and author from Montreal. 

DELPHIE CÔTÉ-LACROIX is a multidisciplinary visual artist with a background in graphic design. 
Follow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/delphiecotelacroix/

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Red Stars by Davide Morosinotto tr. Denise Muir

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ACHUKA Book of the Day 12 Oct 2020

“The story is superb, but even better is the magnificent book production… the book is filled with recreated documents, photos, maps, etc, and just looks beautiful. Every page has something to enthral the mind and eye.” Anthon McGowan

“With chilling ‘annotations’ added by some dreaded agency of the Stalinist state the novel is utterly gripping and feels like an authentic, rich and yet accessible account of what it must have been like for children caught up in war with all the resonance that has today.” Elaine McQuade

THE COUNTRY IS UNDER ATTACK Twins Viktor and Nadya are twelve years old when Hitler’s Germany declares war on the Soviet Union. As the Nazi army crushes the defending forces and enemy planes appear overhead, they are hurriedly evacuated from their home.
‘WHATEVER HAPPENS, STAY TOGETHER’ Their parents told them to look after each other, no matter what. But amid the chaos of the evacuation, disaster strikes – the twins are separated, stranded many miles apart with no way of communicating.
A DESPERATE RACE ACROSS SNOW AND ICE Despite the war raging all around, Viktor and Nadya are determined to find each other and get back home. Can they pick a path through the danger and destruction, with only their courage and love to keep them going?

Davide Morosinotto is an Italian journalist, video game translator, science fiction writer and children’s book author. In 2007 he won the Mondadori Junior Award, and published his first book. Since then he has written more than thirty books. He lives in Bologna.

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