Author Biography
In 2003, HIROKO FUJITA and FRAN STALLINGS received the National(U.S.) Storytelling Network s International StoryBridge ORACLE Awardfor their work on both sides of the Pacific. They hope that their bookswill make Mrs. Fujita s stories available to English-speaking story loverseverywhere.Hiroko Fujita is a traditional ohanashi obaasan (storytellinggrandma). She spent her childhood in the rural mountain townof Miharu in Fukushima Prefecture, where she heard hundreds ofancient folktales from village elders. A graduate of Japan Women sUniversity, she worked for over fifty years in early childhoodeducation. Now she travels throughout Japan, sharing the old talesand teaching young mothers. She has written nearly three dozenbooks in Japanese. She lives in Kashiwa, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Fran Stallings, a professional storyteller based in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, interpreted for Mrs. Fujita s twelve storytelling toursof twenty-two American states, Japan and Singapore. Stallingsedited and adapted English translations of Mrs. Fujita s storytellinghandbook and a collection of forty-seven tales known throughoutJapan. Stallings other publications include articles, stories, songs, and four CDs. Her academic training in biology informs herenvironmental work as EarthTeller.
