Explore culture through color and food in this cute Japanese board book primer.
*This book was given to us in exchange for a review. We do not receive compensation for purchases made through links on our site.
Summary: Big Cities Little Foodies: Tokyo is a Japanese food primer for young readers. Children will travel across Japan on a mini food tour as they learn the names of popular Japanese dishes.
Additionally, this Japanese board book doubles as a color primer as each page features a color and an illustrated corresponding dish of that same color.
As a bonus, there are Romaji and Hiragana food captions for bilingual readers so they can learn the correct name for each dish.
Why we picked it: We received a free copy of the Japanese board book in exchange for a review and promotional posts on our Instagram. (But that doesn't mean we don't love it!)
What our kids liked most: The food :) Our daughters loved seeing foods we eat regularly in an illustrated format. They also liked asking questions about food they haven't tried and now want to try.
What our kids learned: There are lots of new foods on the "want-to-try" list thanks to this Japanese board book! I even learned about some new foods that I've never eaten before (yes, even parents can learn from a board book).
Overall Review: Board book primers are always a good investment, and Tokyo is no exception. What makes this book even more valuable than most primers, is that it has learning growth within its pages.
With our youngest daughter, we are working on color recognition, so when we read Tokyo to her, the color primer is what we focus on. The illustrations are bright and sooooo cute!
With our oldest daughter, there is more of a cultural education as she learns about new Japanese dishes. While we don't read Hiragana if you are in a bilingual home, this is another tier on the educational platform this book is building. Each dish name is written in both Romaji and Hiragana at the bottom of the page to encourage the reading skills and correct pronunciation of those learning the language.
Our 2023 cultural library is growing with this new addition to our home bookshelf, and we couldn't be more excited to have it in our home!
Title: Tokyo
Author: Cheryl Chepusova
Illustrator: Isabel Foo
Publisher: Little Picnic Press
Pub Date: June 2020
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The series Big Cities Little Foodies also explores the cities of Hong Kong and Taipei in the same cute illustrated board book format, so check out those titles too.