Review by Keith McLeod

Takako and the Great Typhoon by Kelly Garcia and published by Hai-Sai Publishing, Fletcher, North Carolina (2009)

What a charming children’s book! Whenever my 4-year old granddaughter Tanah visits,
she always wants me to read ‘Takako’ to her. Because Tanah is a gateball player (well,
maybe a potential gateball player) and because we often hit balls around the gateball
court, the reference to gateball in the story is especially appealing to her. My
granddaughter can already count to 10 in Japanese, so extra gateball words such as
agari and tsuka should be no trouble to her.

The story is about a shisa, a lion dog and perhaps the Okinawa equivalent of a gargoyle
when placed on a roof, and this shisa’s adventure which occurs in a village in Okinawa.
It’s written in a flowing style with an easy to follow storyline. The story is accompanied
by superb illustrations (by Carmen Daniel) and the book has the look and feel of quality.
The book can be ordered from www.shisastory.com and within a short time, a package
will arrive in the mail. Beautifully presented in a plastic envelope with a colourful
ribbon, the book is an ideal gift for your children or grandchildren. All this for less than
AUD30!

Recommended.