Winner of the 57th Noma Children's Literature Award!
The latest work by the hottest author of the moment, who won the Sankei Children's Literature Award Fuji Television Award! This is a story of a year from April in the sixth grade to graduation. Koyomi Miketa is called by many names by her classmates: Koyomi, Koyomin, Mike, Koyo, Koyochan, Koyomi, and Miketa-san. but it was Tokoi-kun who gave her the nickname "Mike". Koyomi can't take her eyes off the hilarious Tokoi-kun.
(Translator: ano yatsu (edited from deeply automated translation))
The Joys of Japanese Literature Accessible to Beginners
Despite being a children's book, this book manages to have meaningful conversations about various topics. Despite being named after Tokoi, it's mostly from Koyomi's perspective and she has a lot of ideas. Structurally, each chapter could be read individually but some side characters do reappear. I like the short but thoughtful narration throughout. There is a little bit of wordplay, too.
Language-wise, this is perfect for beginners. The grammar isn't terribly complex and the vocabulary repeats.