Little Bird, Raindrop from the Sky (Picture Book of Children's Poems by Michio Mado, Hans Christian Andersen Award Winner)

Shuntaro Tanikawa's children's poetry is a pearl of Japanese children's literature, included in Japanese primary school language textbooks, possessing both literary and artistic merit. This series of poetry picture books selects poems based on different themes for each book.
This book, "Little Birds are the Sky's Raindrops," features poems expressing children's love and care for small lives. "Ants / are so small / almost invisible... if you gently / touch them / sparks fly." As equally vulnerable beings, children can better feel the joy of small insects and wild animals, and respect them more. At the same time, small insects and wild animals can also evoke children's compassion and empathy.
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These are the
two small windows
in my body
Quietly
the night of the lowered blinds
The two small windows
of all life
in the world's
sky and sea and earth
all quietly
lower their blinds
No matter how tiny
a dream
I don't want it to get
messily mixed up with other dreams
("Dreamland")
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The entire book is illustrated by Naoko Minamitsuka, winner of Japan's Akai Tori Picture Book Award, using classic copperplate prints. The pure colors and the unique brushstrokes of copperplate prints highlight the simplicity and beauty of the children's poetry.
(This series of four books includes: "The Earth is a Merry-Go-Round," which contains thirteen children's poems praising the small world around children; "Dandelion Helicopter, Spin and Spin," which contains thirteen children's poems warmly celebrating nature; "Little Birds are the Sky's Raindrops," which focuses on caring for small lives, a total of eleven poems; and "Giraffe, Isn't Your Neck Cold?" which is about various lives affirming and recognizing themselves, a total of thirteen poems.)
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Shuntaro Tanikawa's collection of children's poetry is not merely a linguistic art; it also relies on the magic of painting... What happens when excellent children's poetry and excellent painting collide? It must be a conversation between wings. — Yan Chaohua

2021-06-30

人民文学出版社

99 Readers

9787020169344