Tell Me a Story, Please — Kyoko Hara

Yuka, a first grader, loves when her mom reads to her. But since the birth of her younger brother, mom is too busy to read to Yuka. One day, while Yuka is alone in the forest reading a book out loud, a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, a raccoon, and more animals come to listen to Yuka's story. They enjoy it very much and ask her to tell them more stories. As she chooses and reads stories to the animals, Yuka is inspired by the world of reading aloud, and gets ideas for creating a story for her forest friends. Then one day, after a piano lesson, Yuka sees several businessmen in the forest and feels uneasy . . . In the third book from the beloved The Forest Friends series, the stage is set in a small forest in a town, and features a different family from the previous books. Kyoko Hara's text and Kazue Takahashi's warm illustrations depict Yuka as she learns not only the pleasure of listening to a story, but also the pleasure of reading a story. The animals' expressions are adorable as they listen, and the plot also includes stories from Japanese folklore: Momotaro, and a German fairytale, Town Musicians of Bremen, and others. Be ready for children to ask “please, tell me a story!”