I appreciate how this one finally gives some disclosure about the intended target audience! I had thought they were for around middle grade age but then some content would catch me and I'd second guess myself, so it was nice to know that these are indeed intended for that age group. In saying that, it can be enjoyed by all. Reading this volume in particular made me recall how much I enjoy fables with animals (although it has made me realise how much, not just these fables but ones across the world, there is this weird relationships with ghosts and or animals). Hopefully the modern take of these older stories will inspire an appreciation of animals amoung youngsters as well as teach them morals and enterain them.
Another thing I liked about this particular volume is that it just felt more put together and like the creators had a better, mroe direct idea of where they wanted these books to go in terms of entertainment, level of education (morals, understanding, etc) and the layout was really good (e.g.clear title that the story is adapted from.)

Also, interesting that the finished copy is in black and white, I feel like collections like this would really beenfit from at least a little colour, especially being aimed at a younger audience, I would feel it would engage them more, however I totally understand that with the ink the cost of the finish product would more than likely have to rise as it would be more expensive to produce.

The great flood story's art style sort of reminded me of Steven Universe. Urashima Taro was a confusing tale because I found it unfair that he ended up how he did because he was never told of the consequences of being down in the sea and for children, I believe they would pick this out and argue against it, as I did in my mind. However, I guess it teaches that life isn't fair. It is also interesting to see how the same tales are told differently in each culture. for e.g, I'm pretty sure in the african edition there was also a story about whether an animal (aligator) should eat the person who saved him, asking three beings for their judgement. The same tale was told here but with different living things. It's fascinating how the world is connected by fables etc
I didn't really understand Tamamo the fox maiden. I was hoping to get more out of it as Kitsunes really interest me, but I felt it was too condensed and we ended up missing a lot of info.

Overall, despite some of the tales being confusing, I think this was probably my favourite of the collections. I love the idea of presenting different fables from different cultures in a fun, graphic novel way, to hopefully engage that younger audience. This is a book I'd be happy to own myself!

Eventhough I saw this anthology promoted as a middle-grade, I don't agree and I would recommend it to anyone who might be interested in folk tales from Eastern part of the world. Not only does this collection include obvious picks from Japan and China, it also introduces lesser known stories from India, Malaysia, Turkey, Arabia and even more. That was one of the things I loved about this anthology the most - the variety. Stories are only few pages short and every one of them has different art style and different authors. Some readers might find this confusing and not complex at all but I preffered it that way.

I am big fan of Eastern culture myself so I was really hyped about this book and I was happy when I get chance to review it. You get to meet wide variety of ghosts, spirtis and yokai - from tanuki, kitsune to different gods and goddesses. Some of the stories are worldwide known, such as Mulan or the Monkey King. Not every story ends with the happy ending and I'm glad it didn't, because generally speaking, Eastern folk and ghost tales might get very very scary, especially for us from Western part of the world.

I can nothing but recommend this sweet little collection. Eventhough I didn't enjoy all of the stories, most of them are remarkable and definetaly worth reading.

Interesting mix of tales representing a number of Asian traditions. Some of the stories made sense without context, others appeared to be adaptations of stories that might have been more pleasing to someone with prior knowledge of the story. I'm not sure how I feel about an entire book of Asian folk tales being retold by primarily anglo artists, however.

I'm afraid I wasn't wowed by this one. I did enjoy the various illustration styles. Some of the tales easy to follow and understand even if I'd never heard of the story before. Others left me baffled. It's a quick book to read. Perhaps if I'd read the other versions of the stories from other sources, they would have made sense but wasn't it the point of the book to introduce people to new stories without needed extra research about them?

An absolutely wonderful compilation of stories from Asian folklore!

My favorites are "Frog Skin" by Nilah Magruder, "Urashima Taro" by Jason Caffoe, "The Tiger, the Brahmin, and the Jackal" by Randy Milholland & Andrew Sides, "The History of the Spectre Ship" by Caitlyn Kurilich, "Gold Sister, Silver Sister, and Wood Sister" by Blue Delliquanti, and "Hoichi the Earless" by Nina Matsumoto.

Not only were the stories fantastic, but the art was also great! (I particularly enjoy Caitlyn Kurilich's art. I bought a beautiful print from her at LA Comic Con last year and I highly recommend checking out her other works on her social media.)