How to Fool a Cat ― Japanese Folktales for Children

“Charming and captivating, these authentic and little-known

Japanese folktales are told clearly and simply, making them easily

accessible to young listeners at home or in the classroom.

Thoughtful comments and notes from the two tellers provide clear

tips for successful telling, along with a very useful glossary. If you

tell stories to children, this is a must-purchase book!”

—Sherry Norfolk, Storyteller, Author and Teaching Artist

In 2003, HIROKO FUJITA and FRAN STALLINGS received the National

(U.S.) Storytelling Network’s Internati onal StoryBridge ORACLE Award

for their work on both sides of the Pacific. They hope that these books

will make Mrs. Fujita’s stories available to English-speaking story lovers

everywhere.

Hiroko Fujita is a traditional ohanashi obaasan (storytelling

grandma). She spent her childhood in the rural mountain town

of Miharu in Fukushima Prefecture, where she heard hundreds of

ancient folktales from village elders. A graduate of Japan Women’s

University, she worked for over fifty years in early childhood

education. Now she travels throughout Japan, sharing the old tales

and teaching young mothers. She has written nearly three dozen

books in Japanese. She lives in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan.

Fran Stallings, a professional storyteller based in Bartlesville,

Oklahoma, interpreted for Mrs. Fujita’s twelve storytelling tours

of twenty-two American states, Japan and Singapore. Stallings

edited and adapted English translations of Mrs. Fujita’s storytelling

handbook and a collection of forty-seven tales known throughout

Japan. Stallings’ other publications include articles, stories, songs,

and four CDs. Her academic training in biology informs her

environmental work as “EarthTeller.”