Sumire-chan

This story vividly depicts the daily life of Sumire, a kindergarten student who doesn’t like her name (which means “violet”). This dislike of her name is representative of her strong opinions about other words, too. She flummoxes her gentle, kind dad by saying that it would be better to be named Florence like the fairy in her picture book, and insists that she will help to think of a name for her sister, soon to be born, using a plant guide. She shares her various anxieties and dissatisfactions over the birth of her sister in her own way, talking with her parents and grandmother. It’s endearing to see her change as she contemplates the matter.

    Sumire also has the idiosyncratic habit of suddenly breaking into “songs” when her emotions are overflowing and she can’t properly express what she wants to say. For example, “I didn’t do anything, I didn’t do anything / But really I was going to do something,” or “Being an older sister is a terrible thing / It’s really total pair-des” (she makes a mistake saying “despair”)." Deciphering these thoughts expressed in song is one of the book’s pleasures.

    Sumire is like a little philosopher in the childhood period of steady language acquisition, struggling to convey her thoughts and opinions with the words she has available. Later volumes follow her through the first three grades of elementary school: Sumire-chan wa ichinensei [Sumire in First Grade], Sumire-chan no atsui natsu [Sumire’s Hot Summer], and Sumire-chan no purezento [Sumire’s Present]. (OM)