From School Library Journal
Gr 3-5-Important celebrations such as Oshogatsu (New Year's Festival), Kodomo no Hi (Children's Day), and Hina Matsuri (Girls' Day) are included in this work as well as the Cherry Blossom Festival and Day of Remembrance, which are Japanese-American observances. Interspersed throughout are folktales, songs, games, crafts, and recipes. The book has a broad scope, which is misleading from the title, and the organization is confusing. For example, there is a brief discussion of modern Japan in the section about the Sapporo Snow Festival, and the section about the Dolls' Festival includes information about Japan's policy of closing doors to foreign trade. Japanese words and phrases are in boldface and defined within the text, but there is no glossary. There is also no pronunciation guide. The vibrant, highly detailed illustrations, many of them full page, complement the text, and the layout is attractive. However, since most of this material is available elsewhere, this is strictly an additional purchase.-DeAnn Tabuchi, San Anselmo Public Library, CA
Copyright 2000 Cahners Business Information, Inc.
