Japanese Tadoku Books by Students
Smith College Tadoku Project
この本は楽しかったと思います。話しが面白かったと思います。私は早く読んで、わらいました。でも、文はとてもみじかくて、かんたんで、私は難しい文がほしいでした。
I would recommend this book. The kanji were very simple, and all of them had furigana, so there shouldn’t be any problems on that front. The story itself was light and funny. Give it a whirl!
とても悲しくて美しい本ですね！話にはかんどうして、面白くて、速く読みました。文がとても短くて、漢字があまりありません。本の絵はきれいです。とても簡単な本ですが、いい話だと思ういます。
This was a very simple, pretty, engaging story. The story and the sentences are easy to understand, while not becoming boring. There isn’t too much in the way of kanji, but there is plenty of dialogue, which makes practicing ‘to itteimasu’ and it’s variations easy. Give it a try!
このストーリーは ちょとかなしでした。このストーリーはことはクラゲと猿が何かなくしました。でも、いいストーリーを読みました。おもしろいでした。
I would recommend this story. Most of the kanji was easy to read. It was a bit sad because they lost something they can’t get back. It was interesting to read why both the jellyfish and the monkey lost that something and how it happened.
この本はおもしろくて、少しこわよかったです。おじいさんはやさしいです、でもおばあさんはやさしくないです。かわいい雀があります．この本は親密でとても大事です。たくさんきれいな色がおあります。
This book was interesting, and a little scary. The old man was nice, but the grandma wasn’t. There is a cute bird too. In this book, friendships is very important. There are a lot of pretty colors.
This is a very interesting book to read, would recommend this to anyone who likes folktales. The story is easy to read, with a couple of words to look up. The kanji we already know most from past lessons. 
おじいさんはおもしろい人ですよ。でも、じぞうはちょっとこわいと思います。この本の中はかなしてですが、エンぢングはいいです。しゃしんはきれいですよ。The old man is an interesting person, but the statues were a bit scary. The middle of this book is sad, but it has a good ending. Also, the pictures are nice.
I would definitely recommend this book. There is some advanced vocabulary, but it’s easy to have a general understanding of what’s happening. With a theme of karma, and some moments being a bit odd while others are touching, 笠地蔵 is an overall good story.
この本は面白いものがたりと思います。主人公はジョンさん。ジョンさっは夏休みにホームステイをします。新しい友達をあたり、祭りにあったりしました。This book is about the main character John’s summer vacation. He went to Sendai for a homestay, and made new friends and went to festivals!
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a pretty easy yet still engaging read. The story is interesting and easy to follow, and will teach you about a cool part of Japanese culture (and some new vocab words!).
この本はとてもよかったです。それは多くの単語を持っています。読むのがとても簡単でした。文章はすごく容易でした。
I would recommend this book. It is a very famous Japanese folktale. I have read it in English before, and it is very interesting to read the Japanese version. It had a very manageable vocabulary and sentence structure, I barely had to look up any words at all. It was very easy to follow the story. The story itself is an interesting tale reminiscent of other folktales from around the world, like the fisherman’s wife or Pandora’s box.
このほんはおもしろいです。ジョンさんは日本で勉強しているの学生です。飛行機でゆきさんにあいました、そして、ともだちになりました。一緒に歌舞伎にみるつもりでした。でも、違う日時をおぼえたから、何も見ませんでした。
I think this is a good book for first year Japanese. It is not a hard book to read, and it is a great way to review grammars we had covered last semester. I also think it is a great way to practice putting vocabularies we’ve learned in context.
とてもきれいな本ですね！この本の中の絵は色がたくさんあって、とても美しいです。文がとても短くて、漢字があまりありません。とても簡単な本ですが、速く読んで、楽しい話だと思ういます。
This was a very enjoyable, though very easy, book. The pictures were pretty, especially in their use of color. The writing itself was very simple and easy to understand, and there wasn’t much in the way of kanji, difficult grammar or unfamiliar words. I’d recommend it.
この本は面白いかったと思います。私は早く読んで、えかおしました。文はとてもみじかくなくて、かんたんじゃなくて、ちょっと難しくて、楽しかったです。漢字と新しい単語がたくさなりました！
I would recommend this book. The story was light, silly, a bit unrealistic, but overall enjoyable. The sentences were a good length, and there were quite a few new vocabulary words that are easy enough to figure out from context if you don’t want to look them up. Give it a shot!