Browse Items · Children's Picture Book Database at Miami University

Tags: japanese

Sort by:

Flags

Trottier, Maxine

A young child enjoys a neighbors garden when spending time at his grandparents house. Mr. Hinoshi's garden allows the children to learn until one day Mr. Hinoshi is taken away. The child cares for Mr Hinoshi's garden in his absence until new neighbors move in. The child plants her own garden in honor of Mr. Hiroshi. The flags are symbolically named for Japanese irises.

Tags

change, community, culture, family, flowers, friendship, garden, grandparents, japanese, loss, love, neighbors, plants

Mung-mung

Park, Linda Sue

Animal sounds in different languages such as Turkish, Chinese and Hindu are shared. Open the flap to find out what animal it is.

Tags

animals, arabic, birds, cat, chicken, chinese, conflict resolution, dog, duck, english, filipino, french, frog, german, hindu, horse, italian, japanese, korean, language, norwegian, pig, polish, russian, spanish, swedish, turkish, verbal communication, vietnamese

Zen shorts

Muth, Jon

One day, three young children meet a panda after his umbrella lands in their yard. The children become friends with the panda, whose name is Stillwater. He passes on folktales to them to help them solve problems they are having.

Island-style alphabet

Yee, Tammy

Learn the alphabet from a diverse perspective through the Hawaiian, Japanese and Chinese cultures. Learn more about these different cultures through the ethnic words and colorful illustrations.

Tags

animals, assertiveness, birthday, butterfly, cat, celebration, chicken, cockroach, decision making, dog, dolphin, family, fish, food, gecko, goose, guilt, hawaiian, japanese, jellyfish, multicultural, nonverbal communication, octopus, pig, self esteem, shrimp, verbal communication, wedding

Amelia to zora

Chin-Lee, Cynthia

Explore in an alphabet formula, biographies that examine different successes and triumphs of famous women in history from Amelia Earhart to Zora Neale.

Umbrella

Yashima, Taro

A little girl named Momo impatiently waits for a rainy day to use her brand new umbrella. When she finally uses her umbrella, she stands tall and carries it with pride because she now feels grown up.

Tags

anticipation, feelings, growing up, japanese, multicultural, pride, rain, umbrella, weather

This is the way we eat our lunch

Baer, Edith

Time for lunch! What will it be? Come along - let's taste and see! Journey across the world as children eat lunch. Discover many new foods and recipes you can make and eat.

Tags

african, american, australian, british, canadian, chinese, columbian, differences, egyptian, feelings, food, friendship, hunger, indian, israelian, italian, japanese, maps, moroccan, nutrition, puerto rican, recipe, rhyme

Heroes

Mochizuki, Ken

Donnie is always the bad guy when he plays war with his friends. They think because Donnie is Japanese American that he should be the enemy. When his father and uncle take a trip to school, they prove they can be heroes too.

How my parents learned to eat

Freidman, Ina R.

A little girl tells the story of how her mother and father met. Her father was a sailor and he met his future wife in Japan. She teaches him how to eat with chopsticks and he teaches her how to eat with silverware.

Tags

family, food, japanese, multicultural, nutrition, parents, restaurant, siblings, storytelling

The village tree

Yashima, Taro

A person reflects on growing up in Japan and playing at the big tree in the center of the village. The games and quiet moments were what helped him grow up to be who he is now.

Tags

games, growing up, japanese, multicultural, nature, nonverbal communication, plants, play, self esteem, verbal communication

Anno's magical abc: An anamorphic alphabet

Anno, Masaichiro//Anno, Mitsumasa

Children's eyes are opened to the excitement of seeing and learning the alphabet in a different way. Although initially distorted, the letters can be easily viewed when using a silver tube as directed.

Tags

alphabet, angel, creativity, japanese, letters, magic, multicultural, mystery, pirates, sequence, ship, transportation

Allison

Say, Allen

When Allison finds out that she has been adopted, she lashes out at her adoptive family in confusion and frustration. She is happy when her parents let her bring a stray cat into their family.

Tags

adoption, animals, cat, child care, conflict resolution, confusion, dolls, exercise, family, feelings, frustration, japanese, love, multicultural, parents, pets, play, presents, soccer

Sachiko means happiness

Sakai, Kimiko

Sachiko dreads evening and the thought of sitting with her grandmother who has Alzheimer's Disease. With patience and kindness, she is able to make her grandmother feel better.

The park bench

Takeshita, Fumiko

Describes a day in the park from a park bench's perspective. Written in English and Japanese.

Tags

asian, biking, change, community, japanese, multicultural, park

Yoko

Wells, Rosemary

When Yoko brings sushi for lunch at school, everyone makes fun of her and calls her weird. However, her teacher comes through with a plan to involve the students in learning about international foods. Will anyone try the sushi?

Tags

animals, caribbean, cat, dog, feelings, food, friendship, irish, japanese, mexican, multicultural, music, nutrition, parents, sadness, school, song, teasing

Good morning, let's eat!

Badt, Karin Luisa

What's for breakfast in Switzerland?Where did the word breakfast originate?Discover the answers to these questions and many more about morning foods. In some countries, breakfast is the biggest meal of the day, and in others it is very small.

Tags

beverage, british, canadian, chinese, customs, day, differences, dutch, egyptian, exercise, food, french, history, indian, irish, israelian, italian, japanese, morning, multicultural, norwegian, nutrition, russian, swiss, traditions, vietnamese

Pink paper swans

Kroll, Virginia

An eight-year-old girl learns how to make things out of paper by using the ancient Japanese art of origami. She eventually helps her elderly neighbor with this project during the summers.

Tags

aging, art, helping, japanese, multicultural, neighbors, seasons, summer

Seashore story

Yashima, Taro

Come learn about the old legend of Urishima, which tells about the birth of the sun.

Tags

beach, birth, bodies of water, critical thinking, japanese, multicultural, sea, storytelling, stress management, sun, teaching

Yoshi's feast

Kijikawa, Kimiko

Yoshi is a fan maker in the city of Yedo. His favorite food in the whole world is broiled eels. Every night, his neighbor Sabu goes off to catch eels, broils them on his hibachi, and waits for customers, but they never come. Yoshi thinks that Sabu should share the leftover eels with him, but he is too greedy to give Sabu any of his money. Yoshi continues to sit day after day smelling Sabu's eels, but never buying any of them. Finally, Sabu presents Yoshi with a bill for smelling his eels. Yoshi dances around the town shaking his money box and tells Sabu that he will charge his for listening to his money. After all this nonsense, the tow finally agree to share what both of them have and sit down for a friendly meal of broiled eels.

Tags

asian, assertiveness, clothing, conflict resolution, cooking, culture, dancing, decision making, exercise, fish, fishing, food, friendship, goal setting, greed, hunger, japanese, kindness, money, multicultural, nutrition, selfishness, sharing, smell, sounds, verbal communication

Shoes, shoes, shoes

Morris, Ann

A rhyme about shoes from all over the world ranges from new shoes to work shoes, game shoes to fun shoes.

Tags

american, bolivian, british, canadian, clothing, columbian, dancing, dutch, exercise, geography, guatemalan, italian, japanese, kenyan, mexican, moroccan, mountains, multicultural, native american, rain, romanian, russian, seasons, snow, soccer, spanish, sports, swedish, swimming, transportation, walking, weather

The dragon kite

Luenn, Nancy

Ishikawa, a thief who steals from the rich and gives to the poor, learns to build kites in order to take the emperor's golden dolphins.

Tags

dragons, goal setting, heroism, japanese, kite, multicultural, mythical, royalty

A carp for kimiko

Kroll, Virginia

Kimiko is a young Japanese girl who desperately wants a carp kite to fly on Children's Day. But only boys are allowed to have these kites, and Kimiko questions this rule.

Tags

assertiveness, bias, family, feelings, frustration, gender, japanese, kite, multicultural, parents, rules, siblings, verbal communication

The foxes of chironupp island

Takahashi, Hiroyuki

An old man and his wife return every spring to Chironupp Island, an island off the coast of Japan. Right before the war, the couple befriends a young fox cub, Tiny.

Tags

adventures, aggression, animals, asian, boat, critical thinking, death, disappearance, family, fox, friendship, island, japanese, multicultural, reunion, seasons, spring, stress management, war

Baseball saved us

Mochizuki, Ken

Shorty and his family are sent to an American camp after an attack on Pearl Harbor because they are Japanese-American. To help keep their spirits up, the people at the camp make a baseball field and play games. Shorty learns how to believe in himself, even when others do not treat him nicely.

Tags

baseball, bias, discrimination, history, japanese, multicultural, prejudice, self esteem, sports, stereotypes, war

How my parents learned to eat

Friedman, Ina R.

An American sailor meets a Japanese school girl. Neither of them know how to eat in the same manner as the other.

Tags

american, conflict resolution, customs, decision making, family, food, goal setting, japanese, learning, marriage, multicultural, nonverbal communication, nutrition, parents, relationship

The dancer

Burstein, Fred

A little girl is on her way to ballet class with her father when they encounter various people and things through the city. Descriptive words about the city are written in three languages: Spanish, English, and Japanese.

Tags

dancing, discovery, diversity, english, exercise, japanese, language, multicultural, practice, spanish, walking

Tea with milk

Say, Allen

Masoko's life changes dramatically when her parents move from California back to their native country, Japan. Masako feels like she will never belong in this new country where her life is so completely different.

Tags

change, clothing, culture, customs, differences, family, food, homesickness, independence, japanese, language, loss, love, market, marriage, multicultural, nutrition, parents, relationship, travel

The bracelet

Uchida, Yoshiko

Emi and her family had to go to a Japanese-American prison camp during the war. Laurie, Emi's best friend, gives her a bracelet to take to camp. Although Emi loses the bracelet and becomes afraid that she will forget her friend, she realizes that she will always have her memories of Laurie.

Tags

conflict resolution, critical thinking, friendship, history, japanese, memories, multicultural, nonverbal communication, verbal communication, war

Grandfather's journey

Say, Allen

A young man describes the journey of his grandfather between Japan and America. When the young man visits America, he falls in love with it. He begins to feel like his grandfather, and gains a better understanding of him through his journey and emotions.

Tags

birds, change, decision making, family, feelings, grandparents, japanese, memories, multicultural, sadness, song, travel, understanding

Sayonara, mrs. kackleman

Kalman, Maira

Alexander tells his older sister that he wants to go to Japan, so she takes him. When they get there, Hiroko guides them through Japan to learn all about their way of life.

Tags

change, differences, family, japanese, multicultural, siblings, travel

My daddy was a soldier: A world war II story

Ray, Deborah Kogan

While Jeannie's daddy is away fighting in the Pacific, Jeannie plants a Victory garden, collects scraps to help the war effort, and sends her daddy letters. She awaits his safe return.

The tale of the mandarin ducks

Paterson, Katherine

A duck is captured and taken by a cruel lord, but one of the servants saves the duck. The servant falls in love with another servant who protects her from the lord, and they get married.

Tags

birds, conflict resolution, decision making, duck, family, japanese, love, marriage, multicultural, rescue, royalty

Perfect crane

Laurin, Anne

A lonely magician makes a paper crane come to life. He is surrounded by many friends. When winter comes, the crane must leave, but his new friends still come over.

Tags

birds, careers, change, conflict resolution, decision making, feelings, friendship, japanese, loneliness, magic, multicultural, neighbors, seasons, self esteem, winter

Peace crane

Hamanaka, Sheila

A young African American girl learns about the Peace Crane, created by Sadako Sasaki, survivor of Hiroshima. The girl wishes the Peace Crane would take her away from the violence in her own world to a place without racism and violence.

Tags

african american, author's note, birds, crane, death, dreams, feelings, hope, japanese, love, multicultural, nonverbal communication, peace, prejudice, racism, sadness, self esteem, verbal communication, violence, war

Dumpling soup

Rattigan, Jama Kim

Marisa, a young Asian American girl, attempts to help make the dumplings for dumpling soup which her family has been making for generations. She hold a strong sense of pride, honor, and love in her heart for her family.

Tags

asian american, celebration, decision making, english, family, goal setting, grandparents, hawaiian, japanese, korean, love, new year, self esteem, siblings, traditions

The dwarf giant

Lobel, Anita

A Japenese prince and princess come upon a dwarf who enchants the prince and makes him do foolish things. The prince finds a clever way of disenchanting the prince.

Tags

asian, boredom, critical thinking, decision making, dwarfs, evil, games, japanese, multicultural, mythical, peer resistance, refusal skills, royalty, verbal communication, wish

One afternoon

Heo, Yumi

Minho and his mother hear all the sounds of the city when they spend the afternoon running errands like grocery shopping and doing laundry.

Tags

animals, family, fire engine, food, japanese, multicultural, nutrition, responsibilities, sleep, sounds, train, transportation

Grandpa's town

Nomura, Takaaki

Yuuta goes to his grandpa's house and spends a day with him. He sees that grandpa is happy living alone and that he is independent.

Tags

aging, family, grandparents, independence, japanese, multicultural, verbal communication

The cherry tree

McCaughrean, Geraldine

A family tries to recuperate after a war in which they lose their father and their home. The children meet and help an old man take care of a sickly cherry tree. As the tree grows and begins to blossom, so does the village and its people.

The drums of Noto Hanto

James, J. Alison

This true story tells the tale of a Japanese village defeating their enemy samurai. The villagers use their minds instead of weapons to scare the samurai. Wearing wild masks, setting fires on the beach, and playing the drums of Noto Hanto, kept the village safe.

Jo Jo's flying sidekick

Pinkney, Brian

Jo Jo is worried about her flying sidekick test in Tae Kwon Do. Her grandfather and mother give her advice but she is still worried. When the test begins, she freezes. But then she realizes just what to do.

Tags

african american, assertiveness, conflict resolution, decision making, exercise, family, fear, feelings, goal setting, grandparents, japanese, multicultural, parents, performance, self esteem, sports, stress management, verbal communication

So far from the sea

Bunting, Eve

Laura and her family are moving, so they are coming to visit the Manzanar War Relocation Center one last time. Years ago, this center was used to house anyone living in the United States that were of Japanese descent. These people were forced to leave their homes and come to the center because Japan bombed the United States. The center is bare now except for all of the memories and the cemetary, including her grandfather's grave.

Tags

acceptance, airplane, american, anger, anticipation, assertiveness, author's note, awareness, bias, bravery, change, citizen, cold, community, conflict, confusion, critical thinking, crow, culture, death, differences, discrimination, diversity, family, fear, feelings, flowers, forgiveness, generations, ghosts, grandparents, growing up, history, illness, japanese, loss, memories, monuments, mountains, moving, prison, sea, sky, snow, survival, verbal communication, war

Browse Items (42 items total)