A guest post by Nicci, mum to Nuwan, aged 2 years

I’ve noticed a mild and lovely Japanese bent in some of the We heart Books posts. So, since my two-year-old, Nuwan, and I have been enjoying some books from/about Japan, I thought I’d add them to the mix.

Emily’s Balloon by Komako Sakai came into our hands at just the right time. After letting go of his helium balloon after a party, Nuwan was having terrible trouble working out where it had gone to. With simple pictures and just a few words, Komako Sakai explains much better than I could. And yet the concepts in the book are not so simple.

The idea of imagination is introduced: before her balloon is blown away, Emily had imagined that she would eat dinner with her floating friend, and that they would clean their teeth and go to bed together. The illustrations depict what Emily had imagined rather than what really happened; it is extremely difficult for a young child to understand this idea, but it spurs some good ‘discussion’. Also, there is no cut-and-dried ending to this book; the balloon finishes up in a tree and doesn’t necessarily come down, although Emily’s mother promises to try to retrieve it. The pictures have very few colours and the scenes are very domestic, yet Nuwan loves it – especially the beautiful balloon-moon at the end.

Wabi Sabi is more a book for me than for my son, although he is fascinated by the different textures in the beautiful collages on each page – he reaches out to touch them and is surprised when they feel only like paper. Written by Mark Reibstein, who has lived in Japan, and illustrated by Ed Young, Wabi Sabi is the name of a cat who lives in Kyoto. Determined to discover the meaning of her name, she embarks on a journey. But no one she meets along the way can describe the concept of ‘wabi sabi’ in terms she understands. Eventually, while drinking tea from a simple, beautiful cup, she comes to understand for herself. As Reibstein says:

Wabi sabi is a way of seeing the world that is at the heart of Japanese culture. It finds beauty and harmony in what is simple, imperfect, natural, modest, and mysterious. It can be a little dark, but it is also warm and comfortable. It may best be understood as a feeling, rather than as an idea.

Reibstein is ambitious in writing a philosophical picture book apparently aimed at young children – and the vertical format (the spine is at the top) means that it is difficult to read together in the most practical sense. But the haiku poem included on each page, together with Young’s collages, charm the eyes and ears of children and adults. And I am particularly attracted to the idea of wabi sabi because it perfectly describes the way I felt about my favourite picture books as a child. I understood the books as feelings rather than as ideas and, although they were often a little frightening on one level, they were ultimately of great comfort.

Finally, and in contrast, All About Scabs by Genichiro Yagyu (translated by Amanda Mayer Stinchecum) is one of those books that children love but their parents may hate. Kane/Miller is a small, specialised publisher that picks up books from all over the world and translates them for children in the US because ‘American children need to learn not just about the United States, but about the world’.  All About Scabs is . . . well, all about scabs. What happens when you pick them. Whether they’re nice to eat. Whether they’re the poop of a sore. What lies underneath. But there’s some ‘sensible’ stuff here too – an explanation of why scabs form and what their function is (two-year-olds won’t be interested in this, but three- and four-year-olds will). Other books by Genichiro Yagyu on the Kane/Miller website are The Holes in Your Nose and Breasts. Tackle them with your child when you dare.

||Emily’s Balloon available from Amazon||

||Wabi Sabi available from Amazon||

||All About Scabs available from Amazon||