Mii-chan’s Mom is very busy today, but they don’t have any milk left in the fridge. Someone needs to go buy it… Luckily, Mii-chan is old enough to help – it’s time for her first errand alone.
Author: 筒井頼子（つつい よりこ）
Illustrator: 林朝子（はやし あさこ）
Publisher: 福音館書店
Length: 31 pages
This is a picture book intended to be read to and with children from ages 3 to 5. I found the story very cute and Mii-chan is so brave about her first errand. The colour pencil illustrations help with understanding what’s going on and felt very nostalgic to me.
All characters are hiragana, but the spacing makes it clear where a word ends and another starts. It takes a bit of time getting used to the fact that even typical katakana words are written in hiragana though. Since there are no kanji to help distinct the meanings, looking up words correctly may take a bit of time. What I found most challenging for learners in this book, though, was the amount of onomatopoeia. Not every page features onomatopoeic expressions, but I counted up to three per page whenever there was a lot going on. Most Japanese textbooks introduce onomatopoeia rather late to learners, but if you know what to look for you will not be challenged much with this book.
はじめてのおつかい is also the name of a popular television show in Japan that has been running since 1991. You can find full episodes from older broadcasts on YouTube and it was also put on Netflix under the title “Old Enough!”. It’s the same concept and very entertaining to watch!
I got my version of this picture book from the library, but if you would like your own physical copy, you can get it e.g. through Amazon Japan. I’m part of their affiliate program and will receive a small comission if you purchase the book through this link.
dokushoclub.com 