In 2003, HIROKO FUJITA and FRAN STALLINGS received the National (U.S.) Storytelling Network's International StoryBridge ORACLE Award for their work on both sides of the Pacific. They hope that their books will make Mrs. Fujita's stories available to English-speaking story lovers everywhere.

Hiroko Fujita is a traditional ohanashi obaasan (storytelling grandma). She spent her childhood in the rural mountain town of Miharu in Fukushima Prefecture, where she heard hundreds of ancient folktales from village elders. A graduate of Japan Women's University, she worked for over fifty years in early childhood education. Now she travels throughout Japan, sharing the old tales and teaching young mothers. She has written nearly three dozen books 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 tours of twenty-two American states, Japan and Singapore. Stallings edited and adapted English translations of Mrs. Fujita's storytelling handbook and a collection of forty-seven tales known throughout Japan. Stallings' other publications include articles, stories, songs, and four CDs. Her academic training in biology informs her environmental work as "EarthTeller."