cat office

Books selected by the Japan Library Association

Because they have a habit of sleeping in the furnace, they are always dirty with soot. In the ``Cat Office'' at work, Cat Cat, the fourth secretary, is being bullied by the other three clerks. The harder you try, the more you get bullied. What are the words that the big lion that appears there says?

A masterpiece that poignantly depicts timeless issues! Ayuko Uegaki uses her unique pointillist-like brushstrokes to lovingly depict everything, including the cats' rich expressions and office accessories.

[Profile]
Illustration: Ayuko Uegaki
Born in Tokyo in 1969. Graduated from Musashino Art University, Faculty of Art and Design.
Debuted as a picture book in 1996 with “Ofuro” (Gakken).
Selected for the Bologna International Picture Book Art Exhibition and won the Grand Prix at the Bratislava World Picture Book Art Exhibition. Winner of the Japan Picture Book Award for ``Masha and the White Bird: A Russian Folktale'' (Kaiseisha). He has also won many other awards, including the Sankei Children's Publishing Culture Award and the Nippon Broadcasting Award.
Since 2002, he has lived in Prague, Czech Republic.
His other picture books include ``Twelve Moons'' (Kaiseisha) and ``Maple Leaves'' (written by Mrasková, translated by Akiko Sekizawa, Rironsha), and many other works that depict folk tales from the Slavic regions of Russia and Eastern Europe. Other works include ``Penki-ya'' and ``Wani'' (both written by Kaho Nashiki, Rironsha Publishing), ``Mori no Otobukuro'' (written by Mutsuko Wataru, published by Nora Shoten), and ``Mountain Tantara Grandma'' (written by Naoko Awa, published by Shogakukan). He is also working on adapting and illustrating Grimm's fairy tales into picture books.

●Art materials used: Kansai, Suiboshi pigments, mineral pigments, watercolors, glue/Paper: Kochi hemp paper

[Publication date] October 20, 2014