Japan

Gracie said, "I've spent about a third of my life (20 years) outside the US. I'd like to recommend some books from the places I had the great good fortune to live ... JAPAN: Momotaro, the Peach Pit Boy (possibly my first book)."

Unfortunately, I can't find a book about this, but here's the short story as I found it online:

Momotaro, the Peach Boy is the story of an old man and an old woman who never have been able to have a child. They are lonely. While she washes her clothes, the woman is very surprised by the appearance of a huge peach floating down the stream. She brings the peach home and opens it, only to find a small boy nestled inside. "I'm hungry!" he says, and eats up first one half of the peach and then the other half.

He grows up to be a fine young man and one day takes his flute to the Ogre's island. He teams up with a monkey, a dog, and a pheasant, and together they put the Ogre in his place. With a song played by Momotaro on the flute, the Ogre is tamed, and Momotaro, the monkey, the dog, and the pheasant are able to convince the Ogre to come back to the village and return all the treasures he has stolen.