My First Japanese Kanji Book - by Eriko Sato & Anna Sato (Mixed Media Product)

Number of Pages: 64
Genre: Juvenile Nonfiction
Sub-Genre: Foreign Language Study
Format: Mixed Media Product
Publisher: Tuttle Publishing
Age Range: 9-12 Years
Book theme: General
Author: Eriko Sato & Anna Sato
Language: English

Book Synopsis

My First Japanese Kanji Book is an inventive and unique introduction to kanji for children.

Written by the mother-daughter team of Eriko and Anna Sato, this lovely book introduces 109 kanji characters to children with poems and illustrations. It includes all the Japanese Government-specified first-grade level kanji characters and a sprinkling of simple second to sixth-grade characters.

The kanji are introduced in the context of 36 colorful paintings and poems by 14-year-old Anna Sato, herself a kanji learner. Each of the poems is presented in both Japanese and English, and all kanji are accompanied by furigana (small hiragana letters), stroke-order diagrams, sample vocabulary and boxes for writing practice.

A charming and educational volume, My First Japanese Kanji Book can be used as a self-study text, a supplementary material in Japanese language schools or a gift book for family or friends. An MP3 audio CD reinforces learning and ensures correct pronunciation.

All disc content is alternatively accessible on tuttlepublishing.com/downloadable-content.

Review Quotes

Hazel and I began trying some out first with just regular colored pencils and I realized we were not getting the thickness of the lines correctly so I pulled out some calligraphy pens. Hazel loved this activity!! She wanted to do some more while I started making dinner. Again I love that Hazel gets to hear the correct pronunciation. I also showed her how to listen to the poems on her own if she wants to try some while I'm busy. This really excited her. She actually asked if we could try some lessons every day. --Crafty Moms Share blog

It's an illustrated picture book AND a workbook, all nicely hard-bound. --PragmaticMom.com blog

There are 36 lessons in this book, which is enough to really keep your children learning. Most of the lessons are two pages long, so quite reasonable and not too intimidating. --Castle View Academy blog

About the Author

Dr. Eriko Sato is Associate Professor in the Department of Asian and Asian American Studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook. She teaches Japanese language, linguistics and pedagogy as well as translation studies and acquisition of Asian languages. She serves as the adviser for the teacher education program for Japanese. Dr. Sato developed numerous courses including the first online Japanese course at her university. She has also authored or co-authored a number of books for teaching and learning Japanese, including Contemporary Japanese, Japanese Demystified, Japanese for Dummies, Complete Japanese Grammar, Basic Japanese, Basic Japanese: Introduction of the Structure of Japanese, Essential Japanese Grammar, My First Japanese Kanji Book, and Learning Japanese Kanji.

Anna Sato is a 9th grader who loves languages, creative writing, art, and music. She participated in Japanese and Chinese weekend programs at the State University of New York at Stony Brook when she was an elementary school student.