11 Piki no Neko facts for kids
Cover of the first book of the series
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| Author | Noboru Baba |
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| Country | Japan |
| Language | Japanese |
| Publisher | Koguma Publishing |
| Published | 1967—1996 |
11 Piki no Neko (which means "Eleven Cats" in Japanese) is a super fun series of picture books. These books were created by a talented artist named Noboru Baba. They were published by Koguma Publishing in Japan. The stories are all about the adventures of eleven curious cats!
Contents
The Books in the Series
The very first book, also called 11 Piki no Neko, came out in 1967. It was a big hit! After that, five more exciting books were published:
- 11 Piki no Neko to Ahōdori (1972) - This one means "Eleven Cats and an Albatross".
- 11 Piki no Neko to Buta (1976) - This translates to "Eleven Cats and a Pig".
- 11 Piki no Neko Fukuro no Naka (1982) - This title means "Eleven Cats in a Bag".
- 11 Piki no Neko to Henna Neko (1989) - This is "Eleven Cats and a Strange Cat".
- 11 Piki no Neko Doronko (1996) - The last one means "Eleven Cats in the Mud".
In 1996, when the last book came out, Koguma Publishing released a special box set. This set included all six of the main books for fans to collect.
Other Fun Books
Besides the main series, there were other cool books too!
- In 1992, an emaki book was released. An emaki is a traditional Japanese picture scroll. It was called 11 Piki no Neko Marathon Taikai, which means "Eleven Cats Marathon Race". It was re-released in 2011.
- A karuta book came out in 1994. Karuta is a type of Japanese card game.
- There were also three postcard books. These were released in 1986, 1998, and 2001.
Movies and Shows
The adventures of the eleven cats didn't just stay in books! They were also made into movies and stage shows.
Anime Films
The company Group TAC turned the first two books into anime movies.
- The first movie came out on July 19, 1980. It was based on the original 11 Piki no Neko book.
- The second movie was released on August 27, 1986. This one was based on 11 Piki no Neko to Ahōdori.
Both films were also dubbed into German, so kids in Germany could enjoy them too!
Stage Plays and Puppetry
The stories also came to life on stage!
- In 1969, Hisashi Inoue adapted the first book into a puppetry show. This show had music by Hiroshi Aoshima and was shown on Japanese TV (NHK).
- The puppetry show was later turned into a stage play. Theatre Echo performed this play in 1971 and 1973.
- A special "choir version" of the play was published as a book in 1985. This means it had parts for a singing group. It was re-published in 1998 and 2007.
- In 1989, a theater group called Komatsuza performed the play again. Then, in 2012, a new show was produced to celebrate Hisashi Inoue's 77th birthday.
