The third collection of stories for children by Koide Shôgo. One
of them, "Tâbô" ["A Boy Called Tâbô"]
received an award from the Association of Authors for Children. This book
was planned to memorialize the reception. Eight stories in this book were
written between 1925 and 1939.
"Tâ-bô" is about a boy who has just graduated from
an elementary school. He works to gather used metal with his father. At
the end, it is suggested that he is going to work at a factory making airplanes,
which reflects the policy of reinforcing production at that era.
Koide said in the postscript that he chose works dealing the actual life
of children. The stories are based on the memory of childhood or everyday
experience. However, many of them also have religious color, such as "Shiroi
Suzume," which describes a boy's annoyance when he shows a white sparrow
to a bully. In "Kutsu Migaki no Ojisan" ["A Shoe Shine Man"]
and some others, the idea that the innocence of children influences adults
is seen.
In 1938, the Ministry of Home Affairs began censoring books for children.
On the one hand, this restricted the publication of anti-nationalistic
stories; on the other hand, it promoted the publication of books with literary
value. This collection was created under that tendency of the time. The
fifth edition was "recommended by the Ministry of Education." |
