Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels

This is the third book in the Kuma-Kuma Chan series. It has a wide fan base in Japan, especially appealing to young women, and is now spreading its wings to be enjoyed across Asia, Europe and North America. Kuma-Kuma Chan is a sweet adorable little bear (kuma means "bear" in Japanese) who lives all alone in the mountains. Because of his isolation he loves to travel and explore the world ... well in his mind anyway. He envisions flying off to to a warm island where he can lay in the sun and nap... well in his head anyway. He dreams of climbing to the top of a high mountain and watching the spectacular sunrise while sipping a cup of fresh-brewed coffee... well in his writing anyway. He flies up in the sky like a bird, time-travels back to before he was born to find out what animal he was in his previous life... but only in his creative mind. His travel fantasies soothe and comfort him. He is free to explore, visit and savour his trips to anywhere his psyche leads him. He documents his various itineraries and sends them to his friend, who is narrating his story in messy, illegible handwriting, which frustrates the receiver. Kuma-Kuma Chan's scribbled notes leaves the boy's own imagination open to interpret the little bear's travelling adventures. The friendly boy wishes him well wherever and whatever the little guy is up to and hopes one day to see his buddy one more time. The text is simple, the illustrations are soft, muted and uncluttered. The mood is calm and peaceful. The book encourages readers to explore their own imaginations and follow where their creative thinking takes them. I highly recommend this book and the other books in the series.

I received a copy of Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels for free, in exchange for an honest review. Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels is a sweet little book aimed at a younger audience (probably 6 or 7 and younger). Immediately when starting this book, you are drifting off in your imagination with Kuma-Kuma. We travel to all kinds of different places and 'see' what Kuma-Kuma sees while there. The writing is simple and easy to understand. The illustrations are cute and relate perfectly to the story. You can control the speed of the book by elaborating on the imagination aspect, or you can zip through it using just the story at hand. It's a great versatile book that will be read again and again. I love the Kuma-Kuma books and recommend them to anyone that's interested in expanding not only their Library....but their imagination as well.

'Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels' could be pitched as a Children's Fiction. But adults, who are crestfallen, because everybody seems to be travelling and sharing pictures on Facebook and Instagram, and they are stuck in there bedroom and backyard, should read this book. The little bear and the minimalist illustrations meditate on the beauty of travelling without leaving one's own home. What is more beautiful than looking at the stars from your own roof, and writing about listening to stars to your friend? Kuma-Kuma Chan is that kind of a traveller and he is inspiring that way. Whenever travel feels like a distant dream, join Kuma-Kuma Chan in his adventures. :)

2.5* This is a feel-good tale about a cute little bear that "travels" in his daydreams. It is told by a friend of his who receives letters from Kuma-Kuma Chan about his adventures, but they are so sloppily written that he can't read them and can only imagine about his friend's travels. A daydream within a daydream, it's Bearception. I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it was probably a lot better before it was translated. The English translation could use a rewrite I think because the phrasing just sounds off. It's like if google translate, translated a book and everything sounded very literal and strange. I received an e-book copy from the publisher and the formatting is absolutely terrible. The image resolution was bad, words are all over the place, at least one image I know of was missing, 4 pages in a row were the same image, and it was in Japanese so I can only guess what it said on those pages. I'm sure the physical version is better, I wish I could have seen that instead. So, keep that in mind that the readability has affected my overall scoring. This is like reviewing a book based on an abstract painting made to represent it. I'd give my copy of this book 2 stars. It's a cute book but the art isn't out of this world or anything. The edges of things aren't well defined and the colors are few and muted so I don't know if children will understand or enjoy the images as much. I heard this bear is popular in Japan and I don't see it, it's a little weird looking with odd proportions and soft undefined edges. A blob with fingers. I didn't really understand the story or rather the purpose of it. It's fun in the sense that it is about imagination but I don't know if the randomness and simplicity of the story will hold young readers attention. I think reading it requires too much imagination and bonus discussion to make it fun. I received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Kuma-Kuma Chan's friend imagines Kuma-Kuma Chan's travels, necessary because Kuma-Kuma Chan's handwriting on his postcards is so bad. Kuma-Kuma Chan is a simple bear, and is happy to rest and watch the sky. The book is one of simple illustrations and simple dreams. We should all travel so blissfully. The publisher provided me a copy for review.

Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels is the third in the Kuma-Kuma Chan picture book series. Kuma-Kuma Chan loosely translates from Japanese as 'cute little bear'. In this book we read about where this bear travels, such as a tropical beach and to the top of a mountain, although we learn that Kuma-Kuma Chan doesn't actually go anywhere. He travels in his imagination, in his writing and in his dreams. He sends the unnamed narrator writings about his travels but because his writing is too messy, the narrator cannot read them. I expect the intention of this book is to encourage readers to also use their imaginations. From reading reviews of previous books in the series I understand that this bear is quite popular in Japan. It's not the kind of children's book I gravitate to though as nothing really happens. There isn't the rhyming or excitement that usually engages young children or bright, detailed illustrations to capture their imaginations. The illustrations are simple and have muted colours. I got sort of a zen feel from reading the book, like I was floating in clouds while I was reading it. Thank you very much to NetGalley and Museyon Inc. for the opportunity to read this book.

This is the third book in the Kuma-Kuma Chan series and this is another adorable entry. All about Kuma's travels and adventures in his dreams and imagination. Written in a soft, lilting tone, this will make an ideal bedtime story. The art is so ethereal in its faint watercolours.

This story was published a few years before covid but by chance I only purchased this for my daughter in December 2020. The story of a bear imagining he's travelling when he can't seemed very precient to our current times. It's rather abstract and if you haven't read any of Kuma-Kuma Chan's other adventures it may seem a bit out there but I'd recommend you give it a try.

für mich das schönste der drei wunderbaren kuma-kuma-büchlein - witzig-leise poetisch erzählt und fast zen-mäßig sparsam und gleichzeitig berührend kindlich illustriert - eine seltene freude - mir fällt zum vergleich f.k. waechters letztes buch VOLLMOND ein, das exakt die gleiche größe hat - es ist zwar in jeder hinsicht anders, aber genau so authentisch und einmalig!