窓ぎわのトットちゃん

Good for learners

How enjoyable this book is, very much depends on how much the reader enjoys a slow wholesome diary as exposure to bite-size Japanese language.

Useful for learning: (1) Generally readable around N3 level. There are some N1 grammar points but nothing too intense and it should be easy to grasp with a few searches. (2) In the version I read (kindle digital) vocabulary is useful daily, difficult words are marked with furigana the first time they appear so that is helpful. (3) The story itself is sp

Heart warming

I loved this! I had the Aoitori edition, which had full furigana, and with the mainly N3 grammar, it was a very smooth and accessible read.

More than that, however, I adored the book! It was heart warming, funny, and bittersweet at times as it told トットちゃん's story in short chapters that were like snapshots of moments of her time at an alternative school for children outside the normal schooling system. While I was of course very attached to トットちゃん, I also thought that 小林先生 was an incredible pers

An iconic piece of Japanese literature that's surprisingly fun and easy to read

I read this as part of a History of Japan class, but enjoyed it a lot more than I expected. It's usually summarized as the true story of 黒柳徹子 (Kuroyanagi Tetsuko)'s unusual primary school education in early-WW2 Japan, but that description doesn't sell it very well in my opinion. It's a collection of short stories from her life as a child— the friends she made, trouble she got into, and how her unconventional school worked to accommodate each student's individual needs.

I've heard this book is o

This is an autobiographical memoir written in 1981 by Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, an actress, TV personality, and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador. It recalls her time attending an unconventional and progressive elementary school as a little girl in the early years of WWII.

Totto-chan is sent to this odd school because she has been expelled. From the first grade. Nowadays such a child would probably be referred for ADHD testing, but in WWII Japan she was simply expelled from first grade, and in desperation