この本はとてもかわいくて、たのしいです。図でストーリーがありますから。This book was about what the Kimura family did for New Year and their customs. I really liked how despite the book being a book that explains Japanese culture through a series of events, the pictures themselves had individual little stories in them. If you are looking for a book that teaches Japanese culture but in a fun way, this book is definitely a recommendation.
さんぽ、いぬ、ともだち
この本はとてもかわいいです。ほんは優しいです、でもちょっと難しいです。たのしいですね！
I would highly recommend this book to all level 0 readers. The images are amazing, the story is really cute, and it’s an easy read. Whatever kanji or vocabulary not known are easily understood from the images. Likewise, there was maybe one unfamiliar sentence structure, but otherwise it was great. You should definitely read it!
ハチの話
この本は有名です。ハチはとてもかわいくて、いい犬です。The book is really touching although it is a sad story in the end. But it described the loyalty of the dog and it is also a true story.
I do recommend this book to my classmates. There are many words in the book that we’ve already learned so it’s a good time to review the words. Also, the images in the book are cute!
チチの友たち
この本はとてもおもしろいです。チチさんねこです。ちちさんはしんりんでまよいました。友だちを待っていました。たくさんどうぶつ（animal）は手伝いました。友だちはせがひくくて、みみがちいさくて、ちょっと太っていと言っていました。最後、ちちさんは友だちとおいしいケーきを食べました。いいですね。
The storyline is very warm, as all the others help Chichi find its friend. And it is very cute when they are guessing if the rabbit and other animals are Chichi’s friend.
There are some kanji (with hiragana on top) that we have not learned, like くろい(black). But it is easy to guess the meaning according to the pictures.
Also, it is a good review for Japanese first-year student because there are lots of sentences using と思いました andと言っていました。
海（うみ）の旅行（りょこう）
I really like the pictures the authors drew! Those drawings are very cute. 海がだいすき！This book reminds me of a lot of 楽しいこと, though I did not get the ending. Overall, I like it.
I will recommend this to Japanese first-year students. The book is easy to read and interesting. Additionally, we can learn some new kanji.
大豆
この本はとてもおもしろくてたのしい。Though I knew many of the uses of soy beans I enjoyed learning the names of some of the items in Japanese such as もやし(bean sprouts), and 油 (あぶら) or soybean oil. Not a big なっとう fan (fermented soy beans) but I have eaten it on a bit of a dare. I liked their anthropomorphized illustration. Nice to see the authors realized it isn’t for everyone’s taste–even in Japan–with the picture of the kids at the table towards the end. Enjoyed seeing the kanji 外（そと） used at the end as they were telling the “evil spirit” to get “outside”! Much more of a non-fiction kind of book but still would recommend to any JPN 110 students.
つきみ: 月見
この本はおもしろかったっです!!! The book focused on moon and what they eat during moon festival (?). Most of the vocabulary is pretty simple and we learned them in classes before, however, there are some unfamiliar vocabulary that we need to relied on the pictures to make an educated guess. I enjoyed the part of different animal drawings on the moon, it looked amazing! I never thought of something like this, so this book definitely taught me something new. Definitely recommend first year Japanese students to read 😀
モモの友 と も だち
私は本がすきです。本はおもしろおもしろいです。キャラクターはとてもかわいいです！
I would personally recommend this book to other first-year Japanese students. The story is simple and cute. And so are the characters. However, I do wish there were more pictures just to split up the text a bit more.
お菊さん
この本はちょっとこわいです。おきくさんと言う女の人が死んでゆうれいになる話です。でもすごくおもしろかっ田です。日本語1年生にはちょっとむずかしいかもしれません。There quite a few expressions/verbs that we haven’t learned in 日本語１。But if you love ghost stories, this is a really good one. The pictures also explain the story pretty well, until at least halfway.
緑の豚（みどりのぶた）
この本はおもしろかったっです。でも日本語1年生はしらないexpressionがすこしあります。For example、the phrases “とくべつ”、“泣きました”、“いろがかわりませんでした” are usually not familiar to a 日本語1年生。それから、ときどき grammar errorがあると思います。For example, “ざーざーふりです”じゃなくて“ザーザーふります”だと思います。でもストリはたのしかったです。それからこの本はえがとても！！とてもきれいです。I seriously envy the author’s art skills.なかなかおもしろい本でした。