An amazing online resource is the University of South Florida’s Lit2Go collection of online stories, poems, folktales, and more. The materials may be read or listened to online, or downloaded and printed out. It’s a great resource for those who like to listen and follow the text as a learning tool as well as a way to preserve significant books and stories from the past. This collection of children’s literature is a part of the Educational Technology Clearinghouse and is funded by various grants and maintained by the Florida Center for Instructional Technology, College of Education, at the University of South Florida.
https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/collections/
Today, I explored some of the folktales of Japan, including one of the most popular bedtime stories in Japan, Momotaro, the Peach Boy. It is about a boy who was born inside of a peach to an old couple who didn’t have children. When he grew up, he went to the Island of the Ogres (translated as devils in the version here, but I have heard ogres and demons instead) and defeated them with the help of some animal friends.
There are many wonderful stories in Japanese Fairy Tales, translated by Yei Theodora Ozaki, and you can read or listen to some of them, including the story of Urashima Taro and The Adventures of Kintaro the Golden Boy on the Lit2Go site here:
https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go/72/japanese-fairy-tales/
Have fun exploring and listening together!
