Takahashi, Anna

My favorite picture book is “Kon to Aki.” The main characters in this story are Aki, Kon, and Aki’s grandmother. Kon is a stuffed fox boy that Aki’s grandmother made for her. Aki is a five-year-old girl. Aki’s grandmother lives in Tottori. This is Kon and Aki’s adventure story. Kon came from Aki’s grandmother’s house to Aki’s house when Aki was a baby. Kon and Aki always play and Aki is growing up gradually, but Kon is getting old and his arm comes apart at the seams, so they go to Aki’s grandmother’s house to fix his arm.

This story is written by Akiko Hayashi. She is a picture book writer, and she wrote both the pictures and the story of this picture book. I like picture books she wrote such as Magic Paints and Miki’s first Errand.

The reason why I like this story is that even though he is a stuffed animal, he is written as though he is alive. I haven’t seen such story much. My favorite part in this story is that Kon’s tail is caught in the door of the train. Kon says, “Daijobu, Daijobu.” In this scene, Kon is so pretty. And Kon says that “the lunch boxes are still warm,” even with his tail caught. I was so impressed with his kindness when I read this part.

Takahashi, Anna