[Picture book of lovely folk tales]

Behind Hakusan Nakai Shrine in Itoshiro, there is a magnificent cedar tree called "Joansugi." There may be treasure buried there... This is the story of its origin.

Age range: 3 years old to elementary and junior high school students (adults also allowed)

Illustration: Minami Keita

Title: Takashi Iwase

Specifications: Softcover, 24 pages, full color

■ Production Story

The eldest son of our store owner, Mr. Hirano, started creating the folk tale picture book series when he was two years old. As he himself is an immigrant, he never had the experience of listening to local folk tales from his grandparents, and he felt it was disappointing that folk tales were not being passed down.

To fill that void, I interviewed local elders and re-told their stories in the form of picture books. When the picture books were completed, I gave them to the children at Itoshiro Elementary School and nursery school. I am happiest when they read the local folk tale picture books with shining eyes.

The illustrator who drew this is Keita Minami, who lives in Ogaki City, Gifu Prefecture. His pop and surreal illustrations are also appealing, as are his hand-drawn oil pastel illustrations. I'm looking forward to seeing what he does next.