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magnoliophyta's review against another edition
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
fast-paced
5.0
aliferuz's review against another edition
5.0
Definitely heartwarming and eye-opening book. Buku yang memberikan insight banyak tentang sistem pendidikan dasar anak-anak ini dikemas dengan bahasa lugas dan ringan khas anak-anak. Mungkin karena diceritakan dari sudut pandang Totto-chan, si gadis kecil yang pasti akan mendapat label "anak nakal" dari orang-orang dewasa yang kurang bisa memahami perkembangan anak-anak. Mungkin karena hal itu juga, antarsub-bab di buku ini terasa random, seperti anak kecil yang juga suka menceritakan sesuatu dengan loncat-loncat tak berurutan. Hal itu yang, sampai akhir buku, selalu memantik rasa penasaran "What kind of Toto-chan antics I would find next?" or "What kind of insight I got from Mr. Kobayashi?". No wonder if this book became a-must-read book in education field.
elbell1012's review
4.0
Toto-Chan follows the childhood of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, a UNICEF ambassador, during WW2 Japan. This book is technically a memoir, but it is written in the third person so it reads more like a fiction. I find it a lot easier to visualize what's happening when this is the case. The ending had me absolutely wrecked.
alyssajcori's review against another edition
5.0
This was a sweet and thought provoking book told from the perspective of a young girl (I love books with children's perspectives) who goes to an unconventional school in Japan. Each chapter is an anecdote about her experience and I thoroughly enjoyed the writing style and subject matter.
I learned after reading the book that the author is a famous tv personality from Japan and she wrote this book as an homage to the school master she learned so much from. This is a great book to be totally transported.
I learned after reading the book that the author is a famous tv personality from Japan and she wrote this book as an homage to the school master she learned so much from. This is a great book to be totally transported.
shryanayak's review
5.0
Tetsuko Kuroyanagi's "The Little Girl at the Window" is an unmissable treat!
Dorothy Britton has done a fabulous job at translating one of Japan's most beloved works, which I assure you, can be read even by those who are still in middle school. There wasn't a sentence in this book that wasn't impactful and neither did it have any moments to make you contemplate if you should drop it - it was just perfect.
What you should know is that, the happenings in this memoir is only prior to WW-II when tensions were high until attack on Japan became inevitable. Yet this book shifts focus away from the sufferings of war, only to take the readers through joyful experiences of little kids at an unsual school called Tomoe Gakuen which proudly boasted of old railroad cars for classrooms. Through the eyes of Totto-chan, we can take delight in the non conventional school activities her and her friends partook in. Be it having a farmer as a teacher or camping in the assembly hall at night just to see how old railroads are transported off tracks, there is never a dull moment at Tomoe.
But the star of the book is Sosaku Kobayashi-san, the head master of this school with fifty students. Towards the end, author lets us in on the fact that this book is her way of making good on her broken pledge to Kobayashi-san. Sure it was full of happy times that these children lived in, unaware of what was happening beyond their bubble but they weren't completely untouched by moments of sadness. It made this memoir whole lot more emotionally appealing.
(Chihiro Art Museum Azumino.)
It kept me on my toes and I was contantly googling names, places and events all throughout. It makes me so happy that the author decided to give us all updates about her friends from Tomoe Gakuen at the end. It somehow gives closure to the readers who were left wondering what happened to everyone once the war was over their heads. This would make a great Hayao Miyazaki film. I believe I'd frequent this memoir lot many times in the future.
Dorothy Britton has done a fabulous job at translating one of Japan's most beloved works, which I assure you, can be read even by those who are still in middle school. There wasn't a sentence in this book that wasn't impactful and neither did it have any moments to make you contemplate if you should drop it - it was just perfect.
'The tomoe is an ancient comma-shaped symbol, and for his school the headmaster had adopted the traditional emblem consisting of two tomoe - one black and one white--united to form a perfect circle.'
What you should know is that, the happenings in this memoir is only prior to WW-II when tensions were high until attack on Japan became inevitable. Yet this book shifts focus away from the sufferings of war, only to take the readers through joyful experiences of little kids at an unsual school called Tomoe Gakuen which proudly boasted of old railroad cars for classrooms. Through the eyes of Totto-chan, we can take delight in the non conventional school activities her and her friends partook in. Be it having a farmer as a teacher or camping in the assembly hall at night just to see how old railroads are transported off tracks, there is never a dull moment at Tomoe.
'Those were the days when you could still find crayfish in the pond near their house in Tokyo, and the garbage man's cart was pulled by a great big ox.'
But the star of the book is Sosaku Kobayashi-san, the head master of this school with fifty students. Towards the end, author lets us in on the fact that this book is her way of making good on her broken pledge to Kobayashi-san. Sure it was full of happy times that these children lived in, unaware of what was happening beyond their bubble but they weren't completely untouched by moments of sadness. It made this memoir whole lot more emotionally appealing.
(Chihiro Art Museum Azumino.)
It kept me on my toes and I was contantly googling names, places and events all throughout. It makes me so happy that the author decided to give us all updates about her friends from Tomoe Gakuen at the end. It somehow gives closure to the readers who were left wondering what happened to everyone once the war was over their heads. This would make a great Hayao Miyazaki film. I believe I'd frequent this memoir lot many times in the future.
As she started walking away, she was sure she heard his voice behind her, "Totto- chan, we had a lot of fun together, didn't we? I'II never forget you. Never.”
inaa_'s review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
5.0