Japanese / Japan
Sensei, shukudai wasuremashita
(I forgot to do my homework because …)
Yamamoto, Etsuko
(text)
Satō, Makiko
(illus.)
Tōkyō: Dōshinsha, 2014. – 95 p.
ISBN 978-4-494-02041-6
School | Homework | Teacher
Reading age: 9+
White Ravens issue: 2016
On the book cover we see an alien, a mouse and a turtle in a classroom. They are the reasons why the pupils could not do their homework. The whole story starts when one child lies, saying “I could not do my homework because I was sick,” and the teacher replies that he “should have made up a more plausible explanation.” Next morning the same pupil explains that he could not do his homework because he had been too busy, teaching multiplication to aliens. Since then, every day one student tells another imaginative story instead of bringing the homework. One day, it is the teacher herself who forgets to make the homework handouts. What will her explanation be? While so many school stories reflect the real world dealing with serious themes such as bullying, domestic abuse or poverty, this cheerful book depicts a teacher-pupil relationship based on mutual respect. The children’s entertaining made-up stories with their short, sparse text will appeal even to reluctant readers.