RIGHT
The uniqueness of
Otogi-Banashi lies
in its accompanying
miniature books and
the book-within-a-book
format. The miniature
books contain only
illustrations. The bigger
book provides captions
to the miniature books
and an introductory
essay to the histor y
of toybooks and
woodblock printsLEFT BOTTOM
Ever y copy of The Night
Life of Trees is numbered
by hand. This particular
book is the 546th copy
out of 2,000The Asian Children’s Literature collection at
Singapore’s National Library has some of the
oldest and rarest children’s books from Asia
Folk Tales
From A sia
LITERARY TREASURESTe x t Lynn Chuaculture
Asia is the world’s largest continent in terms
of population and area. With 49 countries
spanning from China to Indonesia from north
to south and Syria to Japan from east to west
and containing over 60 percent of the world’s
population, the Asian continent is home to a
diverse variety of cultures with rich traditions
and multilayered histories.
Literature and art are the most common
forms of cultural expression, and Asia, not
surprisingly, is the birthplace of innumerable
forms of folklore, mythologies and folk
art. he National Library Board’s Asian
Children’s Literature (ACL) collection
in Singapore features notable works of
literature from the region, with many of its
books featuring handmade elements and
intricate artwork. Carefully accumulated over
time, the 23,000-volume ACL collection is
housed at the Woodlands Regional Library
and Repository Used Book Collection.
It comprises extremely rare books, some
produced in limited copies, which ofer a
gateway into Asia’s rich cultures and its untold
treasures. Highlighted in this article are
selected gems from India, Japan and China.Indian Handmade Books
hroughout history, every culture has made
books, or the equivalent of what passes for
books, with the materials available
at hand. Some communities
would inscribe leters or
symbols in clay that wasthen baked into
a variety of shapes;
others would create writing
material crated from materials such as
plants and animal hides.
Over the last century, industrial
production has steadily replaced traditional
handmade means of book making. What is
interesting, however, is that while modern
technology and the invention of the printing
press have made it possible to produce books
more eiciently and in large quantities, there
are places in the world where books are still
being made by hand, using natural resources
and time-honoured techniques passed down
from one generation to another.
In parts of India, there is a strong tradition
of products made by traditional cratspeople
using simple, indigenous tools. he range of
Indian art and handicrats is as rich and varied
as the people who live in the subcontinent.
Despite the march of time, the unique crat
of handmade books is still very much alive in
India today. he Night Life of Trees, In the
Dark and he Very Hungry Lion are some
examples of handmade books from India, using
paper made from a mixture of coton cloth
remnants, tree bark, rice husks or grass.
he Night Life of Trees, published in 2012,
is a handmade book that relects the art of
three Gond (a Dravidian people who live
in central India) artists: Ram Singh Urveti,
Bhajju Shyam and Durga Bai. Painstakingly
silkscreened by hand, each spread showcases