Eiko Kadono

Timeless Studio Ghibli

If you could get a warm hug from a book, it would be this book. After reading this I just wanted to polish a broom (first find one seeing as the Roomba has put it out of commission) gather up one of my puppies, maybe Pippin (I don't have a cat - damn my allergies, Jiji is adorable) and take to the blue skies with a little portable radio to listen to some sweet sounds.

I love that the world in which this story takes place is not a dark world like ours. A 10-13 year old "coming of age" is a petrifying thing. A 10-13 year old moving away from home to live in another city and help strangers - damn unthinkable. But this book makes you forget the harsh realities of Earth season 2023 and transports you firmly to a world where people like Osono make you feel at home, where ships are littered with belly-band covered wine bottles, where love poems are scribbled on leaves and bring joy, where bells that ring at the stroke of midnight on New Years Eve bring pinkie promises and folksy races around a quaint but massive city.

I loved this journey so much for it's slice of life simplicity with a dash of wonderous magic.

Listen, can you hear it?

Book 3: Readathon… (mais)

I bought this book on sight due to our family's deep love of the Studio Ghibli movie, and immediately placed it on the family bedtime story shelf. I was delighted when one of the kids picked it quite quickly.

This book is so charming and wholesome. If you only know this story from the movie, it is interesting how many scenes are almost perfectly faithful to the book, and then there are also the big Miyazaki-flavored departures. But Kiki and Jiji are just the same, and that's what we are here for, right?

I love Kiki's independence, self-reliance, and positivity, and also Fiji's counterbalance of slightly anxious voice-of-reason. I really loved getting a little more of Kiki' family, home life, and the witch traditions she is part of.

Very lovely.… (mais)