Shimazaki's first collection of short stories for young children. Although he was asked to write for the Aishi Sôsho [Books for Beloved Children] series, and his long story Megane [Spectacles] was published in 1913, this collection is the actual starting point of his writing for children. (Shimazaki himself thought Megane and the stories in this collection were of a different quality, which can be seen from the fact that when he collected of his entire work, he excluded Megane.) Suzuki Miekichi, a famous editor in the Taisho era, said, "the book with literary value such as Osanaki Mono ni influenced the foundation of Akai Tori [Red Bird], a magazine of stories and verses for children."
This book has a subtitle, Furansu Miyage [Souvenirs from France]. In 1913, Shimazaki went to France, and stayed there for three years. A gift from a father to his young ones, he wrote the stories in this book to tell his own children. Out of 77, eleven were retelling of French and Russian stories, others were original stories by Shimazaki. This book was widely read, and in 1923, the 26th edition was published.
In 1920, a sequel to this book, Furusato [Home Country], which was about Shimazaki's childhood, was published with illustrations by Takehisa Yumeji. In 1924, Osana Monogatari [Stories on Young Days], another sequel, was published. When Shimazaki wrote Chikaramochi [Rice Cake to Make People Strong] in 1926, the four books were published as Tôson Dôwa [Shimazaki Tôson's Stories for Children] series. |
