My Awesome Japan Adventure: A Diary About the Best 4 Months Ever!

Gr 3–5—This diary-cum-travelogue surveys aspects of traditional and modern Japanese culture from sushi and bowing (how and when to do it) to ninjas and manga. Fifth-grader Dan is off to spend four months with the Murata family (mother, father, sister, and 11-year-old brother) in a small town outside Kyoto. He has lots of questions about the country before arriving and his experiences, from "First Impressions" to train and boat rides, are documented on spreads containing abundant images. Though life in Japan is clearly different from life in the States, not everything is unfamiliar. Readers will be interested to learn that while Dan and his classmates clean up after lunch in school back home, in Japan, "kids clean the floors and public areas, even the toilets!" They will also be taken step-by-step through an origami exercise, play karuta, and learn how to make onigiri and mochi, and about some Japanese snack foods. The format of the book is reminiscent of Marissa Moss's "Amelia" series (S & S): a colorful cover with a composition-book look opens onto busy, bright pages featuring cartoon illustrations and pockets of text. Offer this fact-filled book to children as a travel guide or combine it with a few folktales and other appealing titles, such as Miles Harvey's Look What Came from Japan (Children's Press, 1999) and Pamela S. Turner's Hachiko (Houghton Harcourt, 2004) as an introduction to a culture and a country.—Daryl Grabarek, School Library Journal