絵本 Reviews: Level 3 & 4

Level 3: Kana and kanji are mixed, but the book is mainly written in hiragana. Furigana is provided for any kanji in the text. The content is not only fiction, but may also contain facts or accounts of some natural phenomena. Pictures are the main feature of the book. Japanese native readers would be six to ten years old.

Level 4: Full texts with kanji and kana. Most kanji have furigana. The content is much richer and the length of a story could go over several volumes, but ample pictures help the readers. Most film comics are at this level. Japanese native readers would be eight to twelve years old.

Combining these levels, as personally I haven’t found much available to me that’s much one or the other.

Japanese Graded Readers: Level 2
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tadoku info

Level 1: Hiragana and katakana only. The text is very short, and has one-word sentences, phrases, and some complete sentences. There are plenty of visual aids to help convey meaning. Japanese native readers would be three to six years old.

Level 2: Mainly hiragana and katakana text. If there are kanji, furigana is given for each kanji. The text is longer but still contains a lot of pictures to aid student comprehension. Japanese native readers would be five to eight years old.

Level 3: Kana and kanji are mixed, but the book is mainly written in hiragana. Furigana is provided for any kanji in the text. The content is not only fiction, but may also contain facts or accounts of some natural phenomena. Pictures are the main feature of the book. Japanese native readers would be six to ten years old.

Level 4: Full texts with kanji and kana. Most kanji have furigana. The content is much richer and the length of a story could go over several volumes, but ample pictures help the readers. Most film comics are at this level. Japanese native readers would be eight to twelve years old.

Level 5: Beginning at this level, material is quantitatively and qualitatively different from the lower levels. Level 5 books usually have more than 100 pages and fewer illustrations. Some kanji have furigana, but not all of them. Stories are fully developed and more detailed. Japanese native readers would be ten to thirteen years old.

Level 6: Easy unabridged books for adolescent native readers from twelve to fifteen years old. These books still include furigana; and there are few pictures. The content is more complex. Some specialized vocabulary items appear.

絵本 Reviews: Level 1 /
絵本 Reviews: Level 2 /
絵本 Reviews: Level 3

絵本 Reviews: Level 2

Level 2: Mainly hiragana and katakana text. If there are kanji, furigana is given for each kanji. The text is longer but still contains a lot of pictures to aid student comprehension. Japanese native readers would be five to eight years old.

はな
[ふねさん]
~90 words

I really liked this one. It’s still hiragana-only, and the sentences are really basic, but it throws in a bit of onomatopoeia, the art is pretty cute, and there’s an actual story, which is kind of sweet. There were a couple words I didn’t know, but I was able to figure most of it out just via context and then checked if I was correct after, so that’s pretty much exactly the sort of thing I’m looking for.

かいじゅうのたまご
ゆうま・み
~150 words

Quite liked this one too, it was a bit funny and silly. Used simpler words, but more complex sentences/concepts, and it fit well as a landscape format on my phone.

絵本 Reviews: Level 1

Level 1: Hiragana and katakana only. The text is very short, and has one-word sentences, phrases, and some complete sentences. There are plenty of visual aids to help convey meaning. Japanese native readers would be three to six years old.

From what I’m getting out of them so far, I’d generally recommend these for someone who is a complete Japanese beginner. Ideally if you were self-motivated enough to just memorize hiragana and katakana before trying to pick up anything else, they would be really helpful in getting some basic words or practicing reading, at least. They are largely for vocab building, because if there are sentences at all, they’re really simple and often just keep repeating, page after page.

From Amazon’s Digital Collection:

こんにちは
[~ふねさん]
24 words

こんにちは くだものさん
[ふねさん]
34 words

おもしろねこちゃんーよんで字ぼうー言葉の本(1歳〜4歳向け
[Anthony Brigs]
21 words

– “おもしろねこ” was more random than the other two, the plain “こんにちは” book is animals, and then “こんにちは くだものさん” is, of course, fruit-themed.

ひーとぴーの絵本「あいさつ」
はすきしのぶ
42 words

I would have liked these better if the digital format on them didn’t kind of suck? The problem is mostly that for some reason the way this book was done, even in landscape mode I couldn’t get two pages to sit side by side. And the way the book was written in print, the words/sentences sit in the center of a two-page spread with illustrations around them, so words get cut off and you have to flip back and forth to read the whole sentence. And I don’t think the illustrations really link to the sentences as much; I knew all the words in it already, but at one point I realized I didn’t have any idea why the illustrations on the page tied into the sentence, so it could be confusing for someone who doesn’t already know the words.

今すぐ寝る。。

すっごく眠いでも、久しぶり書かなかったから、小さいポストを書くことを決めた。うわ、最後のポストはゲームの前で、その頃から何も書かなかった。GW2は楽しかったけど、まだまじめになりたいだから、毎週日本語能力試験のN3のレベルの教科書で先生と2枚ページを勉強することにしている。