is a Japanese series of children's books by writer

Rieko Nakagawa is a Japanese children's literature writer and lyricist. Her first work, ''Iyayaen'', was published in 1962, and she has published over 30 books since then. She has won multiple awards for her works, including the Kikuchi Kan Prize. She wrote th ...

and

illustrator An illustrator is an artist who specializes in enhancing writing or elucidating concepts by providing a visual representation that corresponds to the content of the associated text or idea. The illustration may be intended to clarify complicat ...

Yuriko Yamawaki. The

protagonist A protagonist () is the main character of a story. The protagonist makes key decisions that affect the plot, primarily influencing the story and propelling it forward, and is often the character who faces the most significant obstacles. If a st ...

s are two

anthropomorphic Anthropomorphism is the attribution of human traits, emotions, or intentions to non-human entities. It is considered to be an innate tendency of human psychology. Personification is the related attribution of human form and characteristics t ...

field mice, and the series began in 1963 with the first volume ''Guri and Gura''. The series is published by Fukuinkan Shoten in Japan.

Overview

The stories tell of the encounters of twin anthropomorphic field mice, Guri and Gura. Yamawaki accompanies Nakagawa's loosely structured narratives with simple, unsophisticated illustrations. The stories aim at entertaining rather that instructing and thus do not feature moral dilemmas to be overcome.

Publication and reception

The first volume of the series, titled ''Guri and Gura'', appeared in the children's magazine ''Kodomo no Tomo'' in 1963. The series' writer

worked in childcare at the time. As of 2014, the first volume had sold over four million copies, and the series had sold a combined 24.9 million copies worldwide. The first English of ''Guri and Gura'' appeared in Britain in 1967; in this translation the castella cake the mice make in the original Japanese becomes a sponge cake more familiar to a British audience. An translation appeared in 1991 under the subtitle ''The Giant Egg'', by an uncredited translator. Later translations have been by Peter Howlett and Richard McNamara. Dozens of other translations have appeared, including Korean,

French French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to France ** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents ** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...

, Portuguese,

Thai Thai or THAI may refer to: * Of or from Thailand, a country in Southeast Asia ** Thai people, the dominant ethnic group of Thailand ** Thai language, a Tai-Kadai language spoken mainly in and around Thailand *** Thai script *** Thai (Unicode block ...

, and

Esperanto Esperanto ( or ) is the world's most widely spoken constructed international auxiliary language. Created by the Warsaw-based ophthalmologist L. L. Zamenhof in 1887, it was intended to be a universal second language for international communi ...

List of translated volumes

* ''Guri and Gura: The Giant Egg'' * ''Guri and Gura'' * ''Guri and Gura's Surprise Visitor'' * ''Guri and Gura's Seaside Adventure'' * ''Guri and Gura's Picnic Adventure'' * ''Guri and Gura's Magical Friend'' * ''Guri and Gura's Playtime Book of Seasons'' * ''Guri and Gura's Special Gift'' * ''Guri and Gura's Spring Cleaning'' * ''Guri and Gura's Songs of the Seasons''

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * * * {{Portal bar, Children's literature, Japan Japanese children's literature Japanese picture books Japanese fiction Drama by medium Fantasy books Series of children's books Japanese-language books Children's books about mice and rats Fiction about twins Anthropomorphic mice and rats Literary duos Children's books about friendship Children's books set in Japan Children's books set in forests Book series introduced in 1963