The Official Hamtaro Handbook [Paperback]

Ritsuko Kawai (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

The Hamtaro gang — ten-year-old Laura, her inquisitive pet golden hamster Hamtaro, and the infamous Ham-Ham crew — get the royal treatment in this colorful, comprehensive guide. The Official Hamtaro Handbook includes biographies of all the characters, a synopsis and guide to each episode of the series, the words to the theme song, and even a lesson in how to do the official Hamtaro Dance! Also included are a dictionary of the Hamtaro language, clips of the anime, a map of the town, a family tree, stickers, and a Hamtaro comic!

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The Official Hamtaro Handbook is sure to please enthusiasts of the Cartoon Network series. Details on Hamtaro and the entire Ham-Ham gang are given, spelling out each character's owner, talents, birthday, star sign, and likes and dislikes. For those more visually oriented, a family tree depicts the hamsters, their owners, the hamster's crushes on other hamsters, and the owner's crushes on other owners. A Ham-Ham body language dictionary, map of the neighborhood, and synopsis of the first 26 episodes follow, including a full six pages devoted to the premiere episode. Other sections provide an explanation of Ham-Ham dance steps and the lyrics to the opening and closing theme songs. The book ends with "Bijou's Lost Bracelet," a comic created with characters that resemble 3-D china figurines, and "The Helpful Hamsters to the Rescue," a red and white monochrome comic by Ritsuko Kawaii, the creator of the anime series. But what will undoubtedly gratify fans most are the two large stickers at the front of the book, one of the unsinkable Hamtaro himself, and one of Bijou, a recent émigré from France. (Ages 4 to 8) --D.J. Morel

Product Details

• Paperback: 80 pages
• Publisher: VIZ Media LLC; 1 edition (August 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1569318395
• ISBN-13: 978-1569318393
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 8.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #779,490 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

32 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really Good!, August 27, 2002

By 

"veganonaka" (Atlanta Ga) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Official Hamtaro Handbook (Paperback)

This is am excellent book/guide. It has all you need to know about the ham hams, and even tells you how to do the hamtaro dance!It also has a comic, photo's from the show, stickers and the a synopsis to the show's episodes! I highly recommend this book to all hamtaro fans.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars For Hamtaro Fans Who to Know More, January 24, 2006

By 

George Buttner "Agent0042" (Dayton, Ohio United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Official Hamtaro Handbook (Paperback)

For those who are fans of Hamtaro, you won't want to miss this book. This has information about all the major ham-hams --- pictures, age, gender, owner(s), star sign, hobbies and more. It also has human info and family trees. You'll also get an episode guide with varying detail, song notes and lyrics for the original opening theme (but not the new second season theme) and dance steps and lyrics for the closing theme. You'll even get to see what Penelope looks like without her yellow blanket on.

A nice bonus in this guide is an original story with the ham-hams sporting a 3D look called "Bijou's Lost Bracelet." There's also several short stories from Ritsuko Kawai (Hamtaro creator) about a group of ham-hams called the Helfpul Hamsters who are a lot like the characters from Hamtaro.

Unfortunately, it seems like Hamtaro has largely gone into hibernation lately. I hope that someday, though, they'll be able to release another book. With two seasons and a 104 episodes (and some specials) aired in the U.S. and Canada, there's a lot more episode and character info they still could cover, even if there never are anymore new episodes of the show.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Must For Parents Of A Hamtaro Fan, November 30, 2003

By A Customer

This review is from: The Official Hamtaro Handbook (Paperback)

I bought this book for my son who happens to be a Hamtaro freak! Little did I know how much I would get out of it, myself. This book tells you anything and everything you need to know about the show and it's characters. Now my son talks about Hamtaro and I actually know what he's talking about!! He loves it as well....In fact, it's been read so much that it's started to show wear and tear.