Hello awesome readers. I’m reviewing a children’s book today, and this is a perfect example of why I hate being sent requests for children’s books on Netgalley. Click the wrong link, find it automatically added to my shelf (affecting my ratio), receive a mess of an e-book that I’m supposed to use for review. A version made solely as a review copy, because e-books haven’t actually been made or formatted properly for this book. So keep that in mind reading my review… the hardcover copy is better I’m sure.
Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels
Author: Kazue Takahashi
Category: Illustrated Children’s Book
Suitable for: All ages, ideal for 2-6
My Rating: 2.5 Stars
Format Used for Review: Kindle copy received by the publisher/agent/author in exchange for an honest review.
Pages: 52
Review:
This is a feel-good tale about a cute little bear that “travels” in his daydreams. It is told by a friend of his who receives letters from Kuma-Kuma Chan about his adventures, but they are so sloppily written that he can’t read them and can only imagine about his friend’s travels.
A daydream within a daydream, it’s Bearception.
I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it was probably a lot better before it was translated. The English translation could use a rewrite I think because the phrasing just sounds off. It’s like if google translate, translated a book and everything sounded very literal and strange. I received an e-book copy from the publisher and the formatting is absolutely terrible. The image resolution was bad, words are all over the place, at least one image I know of was missing, 4 pages in a row were the same image, and it was in Japanese so I can only guess what it said on those pages. I’m sure the physical version is better, I wish I could have seen that instead. So, keep that in mind that the readability has affected my overall scoring. This is like reviewing a book based on an abstract painting made to represent it. I’d give my copy of this book 2 stars.
It’s a cute book but the art isn’t out of this world or anything. The edges of things aren’t well defined and the colors are few and muted so I don’t know if children will understand or enjoy the images as much. I heard this bear is popular in Japan and I don’t see it, it’s a little weird looking with odd proportions and soft undefined edges. A blob with fingers. I didn’t really understand the story or rather the purpose of it. It’s fun in the sense that it is about imagination but I don’t know if the randomness and simplicity of the story will hold young readers attention. I think reading it requires too much imagination and bonus discussion to make it fun.
I’ve had issues while reading translated works too. The story itself might be really engaging, but I’ve found myself distracted by odd phrasing or, to be more specific, the excessive use of adverbs. Like you say, it can sometimes feel like Google Translate has had a hand in the translation process!
Exactly!
Thank you for your comment 🤗