Momoko, une enfance japonaise, by Kotimi

Kotimi is Japanese. She spent her childhood in Tokyo… in the 1970s. Here she gives us eight stories drawn from her childhood in a modest family, with her little sister who was handicapped, with great freshness and truthfulness.

She tells us in abundant images about the games in the street (and even in the cemetery!), the father she doesn’t really know because he works so much, the bustle of the market that swallows her little sister, a terrible child, but so endearing. Chicken pox, which deprives her of the rite of the first day of school, the boring tea ceremony at her grandmother’s, the fascinating goldfish merchant…

Japan to be discovered neither by history nor by geography, but through the funny and true little stories of children from there. Everything here is brushed, said between the lines and the colours are nuanced, far from clichés. Young readers discover another culture, another childhood, and the happiness of a big 168-pages book that takes us far away from our small habits.

Hardcover picture book, 17.5 x 23 cm, 168 pages

Review from Librairies Sorcières:

It is with an intact freshness and great sensitivity that Kotimi narrates important moments or anecdotes that make childhood memories. […] It’s a great way to relate even if the life of a child on the other side of the world doesn’t necessarily resemble ours. Because, precisely, we learn a lot about the richness of this very different culture while remaining very close to Momoko. The tenderness of the gaze on childhood emerges throughout the stories, which makes Kotimi’s trait lively, moving, expressive and always right. A beautiful book to understand each other and discover the life and family of a mischievous little Japanese girl sparkling with energy.

Librairie Le Bateau Ivre – Montauban (France)