Shogakukan Inc. Shogakukan releases “Everyone’s Gone,” a picture book depicting children’s “social isolation”

[Shogakukan Inc.] Shogakukan releases “Everyone’s Gone,” a picture book depicting children’s “social isolation.” ​ Shogakukan Co., Ltd. Press Release: September 1, 2025 To Members of the Media “Everyone’s Gone,” a picture book depicting children’s “social isolation,” is now available from Shogakukan. A picture book has been published that humorously depicts feelings that cannot be put into words
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[Bibliographic information] ‘Everybody’s Gone’ Written by: Eva Lindstrom Translated by: Akiko Hishiki Price: ¥1,870 (tax included) Format: AB size / 30 pages Release date: September 1, 2025 Released by: Shogakukan https://www.shogakukan.co.jp/books/09725402 The long-awaited latest book by Swedish artist Eva Lindström (awarded the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize) is here! Unable to make friends, unable to join in on fun activities… Social isolation has always been a major concern. Many people, both children and adults, have concerns about relationships and communication. Shogakukan released a picture book, “They’re All Gone,” today, September 1st, which humorously explores the difficult topic of social isolation from the perspective of a little boy named Frank. Author Eva Lindström won the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award for Literature, an international children’s literature award, in 2022. [Synopsis of this book] Image
URL: https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/13640/3314/13640-3314-d0116eb91696ee75f62b7bbd9e3ec938-1412×780.jpg This book depicts the relationship between Frank, who feels lonely because he can’t join his friends, and his three close friends, Titti, Palle, and Miran.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/13640/3314/13640-3314-9a215d9d07623891781595dadcec4461-1410×778.jpg Frank is always alone. He watches the children playing together from afar, but he can’t bring himself to speak to them.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/13640/3314/13640-3314-69e6af1210af1b834954988c5791f36f-1407×778.jpg When Frank returns home, tears of loneliness fill his eyes. Every day, he puts those tears into a pot and makes marmalade… This is how Frank is portrayed with humor. However, something unusual happens on this day.
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/13640/3314/13640-3314-7e53623e36d65751a2657d013d5b75df-1408×777.jpg The three friends follow Frank to his house. This unexpected encounter between four people who don’t usually interact is a very moving scene. Afterwards, Frank and the three friends decide to have a tea party together. Frank asks the three, “Hey, how about some tea?” The three respond with “Huh?”, “Hmm,” and “Yeah.”
https://prcdn.freetls.fastly.net/release_image/13640/3314/13640-3314-bc0047b954eb2a8b3bc63683122ae4fc-1408×779.jpg The story doesn’t tell us what happened after that, such as whether things worked out with the three or whether Frank made any new friends. Friends and human relationships don’t always work out smoothly. One of the charms of this book is that by not telling the whole story to the end, readers can enjoy it in their own way. It’s a gentle book that empathizes with the feeling that “making friends can be difficult.” [Author profile] Author: Eva Lindström Painter and picture book author. Born in Västerås, central Sweden, in 1952. Studied at Västerås Academy of Fine Arts and the Swedish National School of Arts and Crafts. Has been working on picture books since 1986, producing numerous unique works. Her Japanese translations include “Nothing We Can’t Do” (Iwanami Shoten) and “Gunnar of the Fir Forest” (illustrations only, written by Børge Lindström, Holp Publishing). She has won numerous Swedish children’s literature awards, including the Elsa Beskow Prize and the August Prize. In 2022, she received the internationally prestigious Astrid Lindgren Memorial Prize in Literature. Translated by Akiko Hishiki Translator. Born in Tokyo in 1960. After graduating from Keio University, she studied Swedish in Uppsala, Sweden. She made her debut as a translator in 1988 with “I Quit the Circus!” (Iwasaki Shoten). Since then, she has translated over 100 books, mainly Scandinavian children’s books. Her translations include “Why Grandpa Became a Ghost” (Asunaro Shobo), “Pippi Longstocking” (Iwanami Shoten), “The Wonderful Adventures of Nils” (Fukuinkan Shoten), “My Last Journey with Grandpa” (Tokuma Shoten), and “The Day I Got Injured” (Bronze Shinsha). In 2009, she was awarded the Order of the Polar Star by the Kingdom of Sweden.
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