It’s about a child named Pan who never stops asking questions. My first book with ELB was What What What (Arata Tendo and Ryoji Arai), which came out in 2017. I wonder if other publishers of children’s lit are as careful with their work… I can’t say for sure. All of my experience in translating books for children so far has been with Enchanted Lion Books. Fewer words on the page tends to mean more thought per word. For me, the biggest draw was how much attention seems to be given to every decision. Translating children’s books was something I’d wanted to do for years before I had the chance. Can you tell me a little about how you ended up in children’s lit and translating this book?ĭavid Boyd: Thanks, Deborah. It must have been exciting to work on this book.

Arai is a world-renowned writer and illustrator of books for children. Osada was a prominent and prolific author, essayist and translator. The final illustration is of the moon reflected in the forest pond. Finally, the rain subsides, the sun comes out, and night falls.

The rain begins, gets harder and harder, and then thunder and lightning-every shift changing the colors we see. Arai’s illustrations of a rainy day in a forest are accompanied by Osada’s rhythmical descriptions of the changing scene. It was originally published as Sora no ehon, or A Picture Book About the Sky. Today we’re going to talk about your translation of Every Color of Light, written by Hiroshi Osada (1938–2015) and illustrated by Ryoji Arai. You’ve recently translated a couple of novellas by Hiroko Oyamada, and also co-translated fiction by Mieko Kawakami with Sam Bett. Since you’re not an SCBWI “regular,” let me introduce you as an assistant professor of Japanese at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. Each illustration in this beautiful book was created via a delicate copperplate etching by author-illustrator Kiyo Tanaka, lovingly crafted to depict a dream-like world full of friendship, where anything is possible.Deborah Iwabuchi: Hi David, thanks for agreeing to interview for our blog. There's even an enormous, cuddly creature, so soft and warm and perfect for napping and dreaming! Though silent and unnoticed by anyone else, the little one forms a beautiful friendship with the young girl in the space of an afternoon, showing her affection and care and sharing with her the fun and healing that comes out of imagination and play.

a magical attic that contains roots to hop over, trunks to hide in, vines to climb, branches to slide down.

And then, the pair enter a pitch-black closet and close their eyes, opening them to reveal. It seems to be following her through town on her way back home, so, curious, she goes to say hello: Hello, little one, what are you doing here? It's now her turn to follow the little one as it leads her to a garden and a cup of tea. One day, a young girl sees a mysterious little figure sitting on a wall.

The little one kiyo tanaka