Japanese Children’s Books 2024 - Book Selection and Review Catalog

Aug 20, 2026

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Japanese Children’s Books 2024 is a curated catalog released by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY), presenting recent recommendations across picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction. The publication outlines how the book selection and review team evaluates titles, and provides structured bibliographic details for each entry, including English and Japanese titles, authors/illustrators, publishers, publication year, pages, format, ISBN, target age, keywords, and reviewer-based book descriptions. It also highlights Japanese candidates connected to major international recognition.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages26

Reading Time40 min

AccessFree to download

Book Selection and Review team

About JBBY and This Catalog

Recent Japanese Children’s Books Recommended by JBBY

The Hans Christian Andersen Award

Japanese Books Selected for the IBBY Honour List

JAPANESE BOARD ON BOOKS FOR YOUNG PEOPLE Japanese Children's Books 2024 Cover illustration TAJIMA Yukihiko Born in the city of Sakai near Osaka, this illustrator graduated from the dyeing and weaving program at Kyoto City University of Arts. In 1976, he began publishing picture books that incorporate stencil dying, and his early work Jigoku no Sobe (Sobe in Hades; Doshinsha) won an inaugural Picture Book Nippon Award. He vigorously created more works that won a Biennial of Illustrations Bratislava Plaque, the Shogakukan Illustration Award, the Leipzig International Book Design Silver Medal, and many more awards. Recently, his Fushigi na tomodachi (My Mysterious Friend; Kumon Shuppan) won the Japan Picture Book Award Grand Prize, and Nakimushi Seitoku (Crybaby Seitoku; Doshinsha) won the Kodansha Picture Book Award. His numerous other publications include Sobe gokuraku e yuku and Sobe makkuroke no ke (Sobe Goes to Heaven, and Sobe in the Pitch-Darkness; Doshinsha) . He was selected for the 2024 IBBY Honour List. Japanese Children's Books 2024 Contents ● Book Selection and Review team........................................................................2 ● About JB BY and This Catalog................................................................................3 ● Recent Japanese Children’s Books Recommended by JBBY Picture Books, Chapter Books and Novels, Nonfiction ..................... 4 ● The Hans Christian Andersen Award Five winners and 14 nominees from Japan .......................................... 22 ● Japanese Books Selected for the IBBY Honour List ................................ 24 | JBBY Book Selection and Review Team | | | | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | | OKUYAMA Megumi
Children’s literature critic. A former high school teacher in Tokyo, she owns the children’s specialty bookshop Huckleberry Books and serves as an adjunct lecturer at Shirayuri and Nishogakusha Universities. She has authored ‘Story’ Wavering: Children’s Books in an Unclear Age (Kurosio Shuppan) and Lessons in Layeredness (Ryoyu Shuppan) as well as co-authored A Guide to World Children’s Literature Based on Time (Hara Shobo) . She edits the journal Japanese Children’s Literature (Japanese Children’s Literature Association) . JBBY member.
SAKUMA Yumiko
Translator, editor, reviewer of children’s books, representative of the Japan-Africa Children’s Books Project (JACBOP), and former professor at Aoyama Gakuin Women’s College. Her writings in Japanese include The Cooking Stoves of Enzaro Village (Fukuinkan Shoten) . Her more than 250 translations of books from English to Japanese range from Charlotte’s Web by E. B. White and the picture books of Maurice Sendak to Refugee by Alan Gratz. Her translation of Last Summer with Maizon by Jacqueline Woodson made the IBBY Honour List. JBBY board member.
SHIOZAKI Junko
Researcher, part-time lecturer at Keio University, and a member of the steering committee of the Association of Children’s Libraries (Jitoken) . She obtained her PhD in Library and Information Science after working as a librarian in school and public libraries. She now researches children’s books and reading while also teaching theory of children’s library service at multiple universities, educating future librarians. Her publications include The History of Library Services to Children—Development of Public Library Services to Children in Postwar Japan (Sogensha) . JBBY board member.
NOGAMI Akira
At Shogakukan, served as editor of First Grader monthly magazine, head of children’s books, company director, and finally president and CEO of Shogakukan Creative. Visiting Professor at Tokyo Junshin University. His writings in Japanese include To the Modern Children’s Literature of Japan (Parorusha), Children’s Literature Crossing Borders (Nagasaki Shuppan), and Contemporary History of Children’s Culture (Otsuki Shoten) . Coeditor of When I Was a Child, There Was a War (Rironsha) among others. Managi

FAQs

What organizations and teams compile the Japanese Children’s Books 2024 catalog?

The catalog is produced by the Japanese Board on Books for Young People (JBBY) and the specific Book Selection and Review team listed in the catalog.

What information is provided for each selected book in the catalog?

For each title, the catalog provides English and Japanese titles, author/illustrator, publisher, publication year, number of pages, trim size, ISBN, target age, keywords, and a basic description based on the reviewer.

Which types of children’s literature are included in the recommendations?

The catalog covers recent Japanese children’s books across picture books, chapter books, novels, and nonfiction categories.

Aug 20, 2026

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