Totto-Chan review

Review Totto-Chan

•         Title         : Totto-chan,

                              The Little Girl at the

                              Window

•         Author     : Tetsuko Kuroyanagi

•         Publisher  : PT Gramedia Pustaka

                         Utama

•         Printed                : I, April 2008

•         Bold Books     : 272 pages

Tetsuko Kuroyanagi  (born August 9, 1933 in Tokyo) is an internationally famous Japanese actress, a talk show host, a best-selling author of children book, a World Wide Fund for Nature advisor, and a Goodwill Ambassador for UNICEF. She is well-known for her charitable works, and is considered as one of the first Japanese celebrities who achieved international recognition.

She wrote about the school called Tomoe and Sosaku Kobayashi, the man who founded and ran it because she wants to show to as many people what sort of man Mr. Kobayashi was, his great love for children, and how he set about educating them. So, it is recommended to be read for: adult, parents, and actors involved in education.

This engaging series of childhood recollections tells about an ideal school in Tokyo during World War II that combined learning with fun, freedom, and love. This unusual school had old railway wagon for classrooms, and it was run by an extraordinary man--its founder and headmaster, Sosaku Kobayashi --who was a firm believer in freedom of expression and activity.

In real life, the Totto-chan of the book has become one of Japan's most popular television personalities - Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. She attributes her success in life to this wonderful school and its headmaster. The charm of this account has won the hearts of millions of people of all ages and made this book a runaway best seller in Japan, with sales hitting the 4.5 million mark in its first year.

Tetsuko (which has a small name Totto-chan) starts the story when she was expelled from a school because she called street musicians when teaching and learning activities are in progress. Totto-chan was lucky to have a mother who is very wise so that the mother moved to another school without notifying Totto-chan the real reason.

Totto-chan’s new elementary school named Tomoe was not the same as other primary schools. Class just carried on train were 'transformed' into classes. Not only that, the school was also applying the rule in which each child could choose their own arrangement of their lessons on that day. If children started school with a lesson that they enjoyed, of the teaching-learning activities would be more lively and fun.

Totto-chan found pleasure in this new school. Totto-chan and friends really enjoyed their days in Tomoe. They studied, played, showed their expression, and interacted to each other in their personality. Their teacher taught them with love and high spirit.

Some of the interesting, strange, and valuable things in this school were:

•         Teaching and learning activities were not done in a monotony in the classroom but also done while walking. In the event "the streets", the children also received valuable lessons about science, history, and biology as well;

•         Mr. Kobayashi invited a farmer's field as a 'teacher'. Mr. Kobayashi did not care about whether or not certificated teachers. The farmer taught the students about farming directly;

•          English was learned in Tomoe although America was the enemy outside Tomoe and English was the language of the enemy that no longer taught in schools;

•         The children wore old clothes so as not to get yelled at if they were dirty or torn clothing;

•         The children were asked to bring “something from the ocean and something from the mountains” as a complement to rice; etc.

Although those activities seem strange to people outside Tomoe, those activities are valuable learning process.

Teaching of Euritmik, music education through the rhythms to form a personality that was rhythmic. How, the children must have moved to the rhythm of music played Mr. Kobayashi. Mr. Kobayashi believed that this lesson would work to help children developed their personalities by nature.

When the students had been enjoying their life in Tomoe, the situation became very difficult when the last world war and the bombs began to fall in Japan. On one day Tomoe on fire. Many of bombs hit railway wagon that served as classrooms. Surprisingly, Mr. Kobayashi stayed calm and just said to his children at his side, “Will we rebuild Tomoe someday?"

This book has some special quality, such as:

•         using simple language. There is only a few of idiom. So that, it can be understood easily,

•         very attractive, the style of story telling so live. When we are reading the novel, it feels like we see the events by ourselves,

•         a lot of stories that show so funny, foolish and smooth child’s behavior. These can make us smile even till laugh.

On the other hand, as a novel, this book has the weakness. In some paragraphs this book like as a teaching method book which describes a teaching method. So, when we read these parts, it feels that we are reading a teaching method theory book, not reading a novel.

We know that there is nothing perfect in this world. Not exception for Totto-chan, The Little Girl at the Window. But, I say salute for Tetsuko Kuroyanagi that wrote this nice novel.