Review of Yotsuba&!

[Mama]

For anyone who knows a preschooler, this is a fun read! My own four-year-old son enjoys this story very much, and there are more than a couple of scenes where I can EASILY replace Yotsuba with my own kid! The story is about a five-year-old girl and her adoptive father who move to a new city. Yotsuba's bubbly and inquisitive personality quickly gains the friendship of her neighbors - three sisters. The chapters are all titled "Yotsuba &" *something* that portrays a "day in the life" of a young child, and her curious (and almost always outrageous) interactions with her neighbors, her father, and other characters in the story make you laugh out loud or gasp in surprise. I put this review under Shojo, but anyone would enjoy this story.

There are some storylines where the reader might not be comfortable with. Koiwai, Yotsuba's dad, is not her real father. He is young and obviously not experienced with children. He is often unattentive to Yotsuba, which is often the impetus for Yotsuba getting into trouble. Because of this, readers may be put off by a couple of episodes where Yotsuba is allowed to "kill" people with a water gun. Koiwai will sometimes swat at her when she does something wrong. Koiwai's best friend, Jumbo, gets "hopping mad" and yells out "What the hell!" which Yotsuba thinks is just the funniest thing ever.

There isn't anything in Yotsuba&? that a young child would not be exposed to, whether personally or seeing it happen (boys in my son's preschool play games involving "guns" quite often). Every episode is written with believable dialogue and action. Don't let my above cautions deter you from picking up this title - Yotsuba is a loveable character and it would be a shame if you missed an opportunity to meet her!