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Oshaberi na tamagoyaki

[The Talkative Omelet]

Written by Teramura Teruo
Illustrated by Wakayama Shizuko

Rironsha, 1998. 158 pp. ISBN 978-4-652-00662-7.

Originally published in 1972.

Also published in: Korean

This book is from the Boku wa ōsama [His Majesty] series about a selfish, boastful king who loves omelets and hates studying, depicting his daily lies and failures to get his way. It contains nine short stories. “Oshaberi na tamagoyaki” [The Talkative Omelet] tells how the king unlocks the henhouse, sets the chickens free, and, in the confusion that follows, demands that the culprit be found. Then he secretly throws the key away and forces the hen that saw him to stay silent. When he tries to eat an omelet made from the hen’s eggs, however, the words he used to silence the bird emerge from the middle of the omelet, and the cook learns the truth. In the second story, the king longs to sleep in a bed in a tree; in the third, he covets everything other people have; in the seventh, his attempts to do good only inconvenience others.

The king’s actions reflect the desires of children. He uses his position to easily achieve what is usually forbidden to them. Yet he has to take the consequences, and young readers will find their expectations met in the humorous ways the stories play out. Oshaberi na tamagoyaki [The Talkative Omelet] appeared as a picture book in 1972, published by Fukuinkan Shoten with illustrations by Chō Shinta that vividly convey the king’s agitation. There is also a 1985 collection published by Rironsha called Boku wa ōsama zen 1-satsu [The Complete His Majesty]. (DY)

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Teramura Teruo

Born in Tokyo in 1928. Published Zō no tamago no tamagoyaki [Elephant Egg Omelet] in 1956. Since then, had written the Boku wa ōsama [His Majesty] series with a king who acts like a child. Had won numerous awards, including the Mainichi Publishing Culture Award, the Nippon Picture Book Award, the Iwaya Sazanami Literature Award, and the Distinguished Service Award in Children’s Culture. His other works include popular series among children such as the Tonchi-banashi, mukashi-banashi [Folktales and Stories of Quick-witted Boys] series, the Ohanashi ryōri kyōshitsu [Cooking Stories] series, the Wakatta-san no okashi [Ms. I-Got-It’s Sweets] series, and the Kaizoku Poketto [Pocket the Pirate] series. He passed away in 2006.

Wakayama Shizuko

Born in Kyoto in 1940. Discovered by Teramura Teruo in her twenties, and has since worked on the illustrations for the Boku wa ōsama [His Majesty] series. Won the Nippon Picture Book Award for A i u e ōsama [K is for King]. Other awards received include the Kōdansha Publication Culture Awards Picture Book Award and the Sankei Juvenile Literature Publishing Culture Award. Her picture books for babies such as Ten ten ten [La La La Ladybird] and Himawari [Sunflower] drawn in simple and bold lines are also popular. Won the Takahashi Gozan Prize several times for picture-story show illustrations. Her other picture books include Boku no hanashi [My Story], Kutsu ga iku [March of the Shoes], and Boku tori nan da [I Am a Bird].

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