Children's Books

Many of my children's books have a Japanese background because I lived there off and on with my husband and two children for many years. During that time I was enchanted with the legends and folk tales, much as Lafcadio Hearne was years before. Some of my books are based on old tales, but most of them are original stories with authentic folk creatures, such as dragons, the amanojaku, tengu, and kappas as the main characters. My books with an American background are also taken over by mischievous animals I have known.



(Most books listed above on annual ALA Notable Children's Book List)


St. James Press

Betty Jean Lifton’s prolific work as a writer reflects the influence of sojourns in the Far East. In her children’s fiction such oriental themes as non-violence and the eternal recurrence of nature are accompanied by a cavalcade of strange creatures chiefly drawn from (often moralistic) Japanese folktales.

Among the folk creatures is Joji, a peace-loving scarecrow befriended by the very crows he is supposed to frighten away from a farmer’s rice field. In Joji and the Dragon, Joji’s master discards him for a hired dragon. The crows scare off their would-be-conqueror, thus enabling Joji to be restored to his rightful position. Captured by a rice-paddy-terrorizing demon in Joji and the Amanojaku he is again rescued by his crow friends who intimidate his ferocious captor. Joji, a lively espouser of nonviolence, is appealing to the very young.

Another protagonist is a Kappa, a legendary Japanese river elf with a monkey’s face and a turtle’s back. In Kap the Kappa the mischievous Kap leaves his river home to be adopted by a fisherman whose family disguise him as a boy. However, his incorrigible pranks disclose his identity to all, and, after realizing he cannot be a human, he returns to the river and his true parents. An inspired creation, Kap inhabits other stories as well as a similarly-titled play which evinces the author’s considerable skill as a playwright for children.

A mountain demon in The Dwarf Pine Tree grants a tiny evergreen its wish to become a dwarf pine tree beautiful enough to cure an ailing princess. The tree patiently undergoes the necessary painful transformation, is discovered and brought to the princess whose health is restored, and then it passes away to become a tree spirit. This poignant work reflecting the gentle spirit of Buddha emerges as a minor masterpiece.

Animal characters also abound in Mrs. Lifton’s books. A loyal rooster in the suspenseful and touching The Cock and the Ghost Cat sacrifices himself to protect his master from a ghost cat bent on stealing the household’s provisions. The man-size title character of The Rice-Cake Rabbit makes the best rice-cakes in Japan but aspires to be a samurai, a profession reserved for men. He is banished to the moon when he succeeds. This gently ironic yarn is among the author’s best. In The Many Lives of Chio and Goro the trans-migrating souls of a farm couple pass through animal life back to human life with comic complications in a tale which the reader can appreciate on several levels.

Betty Jean Lifton’s stories have an audience range of ages 4 to 10. They are characterized by humor, an economy of words, vivid characterizations, well-structured narratives drawn from Japanese folktales without diluting the cultural source, and handsomely imaginative and colorful brush and ink illustrations by such artists as Eiichi Mistui and Fuku Akino. Her fiction’s appeal for young children and its effectiveness in stimulating interest in oriental culture are unquestionable. These factors earn Mrs. Lifton a position of prominence in juvenile literature as an imaginative, sensitive, and skillful storyteller.

―Christian H. Moe, 1982



Children’s Book Publication Details

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Linnet Books:

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William Morrow:

(Most books listed above on annual ALA Notable Children’s Book List)

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