This was the first book in my Mr B's Emporium book subscription (a lovely gift, from a lovely friend) and what a good pick for me it was! If you don't know about their book subscription service, you can sign up for a delivery of hand-picked books, and after filling in a questionnaire, they will hunt out authors and books that they think you might enjoy. This one hit a lot of spots for me - it's a children's book, it's a Japanese translation, it's funny and mysterious...
It's a good translation, I felt - sometimes works translated from Japanese can feel a bit stilted somehow, but this one flowed well, and most especially in the 'Daisy' section, where I would never have guessed it was a translation.
The 'Daisy' sections were my favourite parts, and I was completely gripped reading the story. I had a small book of similarly styled fairy tales when I was growing up, which I used to read over and over, and this section very much had the feel of that book, and I loved the illustrations alongside of it too.
It has some funny moments, and often has the feel of a Ghibli movie. I could see it working really well as an animation, especially the fractious relationship between Kazu and an elderly lady in the story.
Overall, this was a really enjoyable read, and probably not something I would have come across by myself as I think so I'm really glad it was sent to me. I'm very much looking forward to my next book from Mr B's!
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