Review by Bukari -- The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Bo...

[Bukari]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1" by Claire Youmans.]
[rbc=4]id88453-125[/rbc]The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1 is a novel which is written by Claire Youmans, and it is in the genre of historical fiction. Hachibei is a man with a wife called Chizuyo. The couple does not have any son or daughter to boast as their own. Life is not easy for the two human beings. And they encounter a lot of harsh conditions in life. Hachibei looks around the empty house, and he decides to involve himself in doing something which could help them prepare for the New Year's celebration. He made hats to sell which are worn by peasants in the rainy season. Unfortunately, he could not sell all the hats he made, so he decided to let the Jizo wear them. Jizo are statues made of stone which is respected by the natives.

The statues blessed Hachibei with Azuki, the creature who is able to transform herself into a human being or a Toki. Azuki brings happiness and peace into the family of Hachibei, and they prospered in their endeavors. People are jealous of the family because of the wealth Azuki brings into the family.

The narrative is concise and very easy to read and understand. I found the language used to be standard for everyone to follow without any difficulty because the grammar is clear to anybody who has a basic knowledge of English. The chapters are adequately developed in terms of their lengths. I found them to be moderate which make you read and stop at any point that you desire.

Azuki has a lot of influence in the narrative when it comes to the plot. I found Azuki to be the protagonist because without her I do not think her brother would have played his own role properly. I dislike the perception that Azuki constantly blames herself for the bad luck which befalls her family. In life, there are difficult times and happy moments, and we should all know how to curb the challenges.

I, therefore, rate the novel 4 out of 4 stars. And I do give credit to the author and the editor because of the excellent editing of their work. The grammar and typographical errors are properly tackled which make the storybook easy to follow and understand. I know the other books in the series would build on where this first book stopped. And I anticipate the greatness of the books to be unleashed by Youmans. I would recommend this story to people who love nature, and also to science students because the work allows you to explore the relationship between humanity and pets. The work could be less interesting to people who dislike animals or pets because they might think it is irrelevant to know animals.

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The Toki-Girl and the Sparrow-Boy Book 1
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