I Am Tama, Lucky Cat: A Japanese Legend Paperback – Picture Book, February 2, 2016

What a wonderful book. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is just as good.

Great story. Our family actually visited the temple in Japan and I’m so glad to be able to share this story with my child so she can appreciate the history of it once she’s old enough to appreciate it. Beautiful story and beautiful pictures. What a great way to introduce little kids to the Maneki Neko (lucky cats).

I love this story! In the book, Tama comes to live with a monk at a monastery in a poor village. During a storm, Tama saves a wealthy samurai and brings the village wealth. The illustrations are very well done for this book, as well. I would definitely recommend this book to the parents of smaller children. It's wonderful!

Mom's review: This is a beautiful retelling of a Japanese folktale. The illustrations are wonderful and add just the right amount of drama and playfulness to the story (i.e. the bough breaking and the cat walking through the monk's painting).Son's review: My favorite parts were where the cat saved the samurai's life; how Tama respected and liked the monk; and how Tama raises his paw. My favorite picture is the one where Tama was sitting just like the monk.Daughter's review: My favorite part was when the samurai said "thank you" to Tama. My favorite picture was the last page with the cherry blossoms and the ladies in their pretty kimonos.

I thought it would be longer but it was only few pages.

A sweet, sweet story with gorgeous watercolor illustrations. If you ever get a chance to go to Tokyo, be sure to visit (although it's off the beaten track) the Gotokuji Temple --- you will be amazed at the maneki neko cats you will see there!! Or just google the name of the temple and look at the photos; I think you'll be delighted to see the thousands of ceramic cats!!

Such a beautifully illustrated book. The story is also quite charming.

Good illustrations and story, good price.

This is a captivating read.Useful for exploring the fact that human hand gestures are not universal in meaning (I spent my first few weeks in Japan being confused by the Japanese 'come here' hand signal and had I read this story before my move would have avoided the confusion!).I would suggest that the book has appeal beyond both ends of the recommended age range.