always and forever will be one of my childhood favourites
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this was one of my favourite childhood books and really holds up. 
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Cerita dari sudut pandang seorang anak kecil tentang kehidupannya di sekolah dasar. Cerita yang menyenangkan untuk di baca, mungkin karena saya mengharapkan sebuah sekolah yang ada dalam cerita tersebut. Meski pada awal membaca novel ini saya berpikir sekolah tersebut hanyalah fiksi belaka, tapi ternyata sekolah itu memang ada. Buku ini pun ditulis dari pengalaman masa kecil sang penulis.
Menyenangkan untuk membacakan beberapa cerita untuk adik saya yang masih kecil. Tapi untuk membayangkan bahwa mungkin ia akan menginginkan sekolah seperti yang buku ini ceritakan akan membuatnya sedikit kecewa, karena untuk di Indonesia sendiri atau di lingkungan saya lebih pastinya tak ada sekolah seperti ini. Tapi itu semua bisa jadi hanya kekhawatiran yang saya punya.
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thebookishtales's profile picture

thebookishtales's review

5.0

Relived my childhood days by rereading this one 😁 Absolutely delightful 😍

5 stars, dan buku ini bukan hanya sekedar buku bagiku.

inget banget dulu waktu sd guruku cerita tentang buku ini di kelas, tentang anak kecil yang sekolah di gerbong kereta dan petualangan serunya. aku yang saat itu berumur 10 tahun langsung penasaran banget!! sehabis pulang sekolah, aku langsung minta dibeliin buku ini sama Abi dan langsung cuss ke gramed! Buku ini beneran nemenin masa kecilku, cerita petualangan totto chan yang seru dan menegangkan bener-bener bikin aku ikut hanyut kedalamnya, dan sedikit banyak menjadi inspirasi ku saat itu. Betapa inginnya aku untuk bisa punya kehidupan sekolah seperti Totto Chan. Gatau udah berapa kali re-read buku ini selama kecil dan saat ini masih terbayang jelas setiap kejadian di buku ini
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Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes
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I was so excited that this was a true life story! I was unaware that Tetsuko Kuroyanagi, someone who I’d seen on TV growing up, had had such a colourful childhood 🥹 I was aware that she had grown up during the war but was unaware of her attending Mr. Kobayashi’s incredible school ✨

This is more like a collection of very short stories, and so some of the time I didn’t feel as though I could connect to the characters because before I could try, they were whisked away! 😳 But it was still touching and you could feel Mr. Kobayashi’s love and passion for education 🥰

I’m giving this 3.5 out of 5 stars ✨ Thank you!

Expand filter menu Content Warnings

How do you define freedom? How do you define the educational system? Tomoe Gakuen was special, it had a different system of unconventional education. This method seems odd enough, but the founder, Sosaku Kobayashi, knew it’s always important to develop and encourage children from an early age that the idea of school is always fun and learning is indeed fun.

We learnt and went through Tomoe Gakuen based on Totto-chan perspectives and how her interactions with the headmaster, friends, and family eventually made her a much better person. It’s hopeful, it’s melancholy, but more inspiring. All children should be treated equally.

On a sadder note, the period of time when everything was told was during the war. When I thought it was fiction but turned out to be a memoir, my heart broke.