Kitty chan!

Ok, we don't actually have this book... yet!
But we are so going to get it for the library.

What is this amazing and wonderful book called?
Hello Kitty's guide to Japan in English and Japanese.

You can use it to practice your English!
You can use it to practice your Japanese!
You can learn all about Japanese culture in English or Japanese!
This book sounds like it would be a useful (and popular) addition to our collection. Especially given the addition of Sanrio's well known and loved Kitty-Chan!

The English does look a little clunky, but it's still technically correct. And although it's not super elegant, the text makes sense.
We have many students here whose first language is Japanese, and lots who are studying Japanese.
And as if we needed another reason to buy it, it's Hello Kitty.

This morning I was trying to decide whether or not my own love of cuteness was stopping me from being objective. Then I found this review.

My reaction to this book was interesting. It showed me how much advertising can suck us in.
Even when you think that it doesn't. My instant reaction was 'Let's buy it, we need it now!' It was really tricky to take a deep breath and look to see if it is actually a good book to add to our collection.

When I get a class where all the kids only want Princess books (of the sparkly, Disney variety) or dinosaur books, I think about how marketing may have had a role. Let's face it, beautiful, interesting and carefully packaged things are much more intersting than the generic version.
There has been much discussion of 'the cult of cute' - just do a quick google search, you'll find heaps of stuff.

One of the articles talked about a company in Japan which offered Miffy bank cards to their customers. For adults as well as kids. Sounds pretty good to me. And with a Miffy ATM card, you can feel like you have a link with literature... or something.

When the maximum level of cuteness has been reached it all gets a bit overwhelming. Like you've eaten far too much candy floss. And then it's time to go for the grown up options.

Has Sanrio managed to suck me in? Maybe. So far I've resisted the Hello Kitty toaster. It is awfully cute though...