PreS-Gr 1—Traditional Japanese wooden Kokeshi dolls and their fashions are the stars of this adorable look-and-find book. Drawn in a Hello Kitty-esque style, the dolls' cylindrical figures are swathed in patterned kimonos, and their large, round heads are adorned by all manner of hair bows and hats. Amid cheerful text about clothing, hairstyles, and accessories, young readers are invited to look for small details in the illustrations and play visual games like matching patterns and shapes. Sharp-eyed children will enjoy poring over the pages again and again. Scenes that evoke everyday life in Japan, such as high-density apartment balconies and a shared bath, add delightfully authentic cultural texture, while lift-the-flap and die-cut panels enhance the book's interactivity. Japanese words in both the Roman alphabet and Japanese characters are smoothly integrated into the text and images, introducing children to the look and sound of the language. Although charming, this book is not ideal for language study, as the text adds plural forms that do not exist in Japanese. Also, the Japanese word for a light summer robe, yukata, appears twice as yukuta. Although these issues detract from the book's validity as an educational resource, its enchanting visual appeal is not diminished in the least. Sure to elicit a squeal of delight from devotees of all things cute.—Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA
Wooden dolls known as kokeshi are the cheery characters introducing a few Japanese customs and vocabulary (provided in both Japanese and romanized forms; there's an unfortunate spelling error). Search-and-find games, lift-the-flaps, die cuts, and gatefolds add some interest to a handsomely illustrated book that isn't particularly child-friendly (the text is cramped and the font's not easy to read).
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