Baby & Me
18 primary works
Book 1
Book 2
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Takuya's life isn't limited to taking care of Minoru. He's got some problems of his own, like encounters with schoolyard bullies, a girl with a big crush on him, and the jealous classmate who has a crush on her. He weathers these challenges pretty well, but once they pose any kind of threat to Minoru...watch out!
Minoru also has a new admirer named Ichika, and the nursery school is rocked by the bitter rivalry that develops between her and his previous suitor, Hiro. How much will little Minoru put up with?
Book 3
Book 4
Takuya must sacrifice the playtime usually associated with childhood for the responsibilities of an adult. Cooking, cleaning, sewing and scolding are all now an integral part of the young boy's life.
Book 5
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Seiichi, the old neighborhood bully, has moved back to town, and his sudden arrival is causing all sorts of trouble. His parents, Mr. and Mrs. Kimura, are torn between feeling angry for the way he disgraced the family name and the love they still have for him. The local merchants are up in arms, ready for a preemptive strike against Seiichi's vandalism--even if he has no intention of causing trouble! But for Takuya, the real effect of Seiichi's visit is what he has to say about Takuya's own past...
Book 6
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
When a new student, Hikage, joins the class, Takuya tries to befriend him. But Hikage is suspicious of Takuya's motives and begins a campaign to destroy Takuya's happiness. When Takuya seems to weather the assault, Hikage gets his little brother to attack Takuya's weak spot--Minoru!
Book 7
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Ichika and Ma-bo run away from their crowded home...but it's not long before the peace and quiet of Takuya's house get on their nerves! At the office, Takuya's father juggles a computer crisis, a stressed-out coworker, and a gang of lackadaisical office ladies. On a school trip to Kyoto, Takuya tries to figure out girls...while Minoru figures out how to survive without his big brother. And Takuya meets a down-on-his-luck manga artist, only to make an enemy of the artist's son!
Book 8
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Meet Mr. Mukai, the enigmatic director of the Sunflower Nursery School. Some people admire his teary-eyed devotion to children of all ages. Other people think he's just weird. And everybody wants to know what he looks like without his ever-present sunglasses. When the preschoolers in Minoru's class turn against Mr. Mukai, he becomes obsessed with winning back their hearts. And when Takuya gets involved, he becomes Mr. Mukai's new favorite kid--whether he likes it or not!
Book 9
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
When Takuya's friend Hitoshi finds a strange woman's photo in his father's cookbook, he panics. Could his ultra-feminine dad really be having an affair? But Hitoshi's problems are just beginning, as an innocently dropped handkerchief leads him to a gang of bank robbers, a secret code, and more. Before they know it, Takuya and his friends have been kidnapped, and it's up to Hitoshi's dad--with a little help from Minoru--to save the day!
Book 10
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Takuya's neighbors Seiichi and Tomoko are on the outs, thanks to Seiichi's weakness for gambling. But with Seiichi unavailable, Tomoko can dig up only one date for her big class reunion: Takuya! Worse, at the reunion, the whole class learns Seiichi's most embarrassing secret. Can Seiichi and Tomoko patch things up this time, or will reliving old school days turn the adults into bickering kids?
Book 11
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Takuya's class defends its honor in an intramural baseball game that gets a little too intense. Then it's off to beautiful Hawaii, where Takuya's dad tries to keep his staff together during a company vacation--while Takuya and Minoru help a pair of American kids with much more serious problems. Finally, Sunflower Nursery School No. 1 faces off against Sunflower Nursery School No. 2 in...baby sumo wrestling!
Book 12
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
There's only one thing Ichika wants for her birthday (besides Minoru's undying love), and that's the royal treatment! At her birthday party, family and friends are forced to bow to the precocious toddler's whims...until Ichika goes a little too far. Then Takuya runs into a familiar face--and a group of gangsters--at a racetrack. And Takuya grows closer to a gruff new teacher when he's given the assignment of keeping a daily journal...
Book 13
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
How did Takuya's family get started? In this special flashback volume, meet Takuya's father, Harumi, in his days as a hardworking college student and womanizing bachelor. Struggling to make it in Tokyo without his parents' help, Harumi doesn't plan to settle down anytime soon...until a troubled girl named Yukako drifts into his life...
Book 14
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Ichika's mature for a toddler--unnervingly so. But even the most precocious kids are still kids, and even Ichika sometimes wets the bed. With an ingenious cover-up and her little brother as an accomplice, maybe she won't have to admit it! Then Minoru gets his own kid-size car...and a kid-size case of road rage! And Takuya and his friends help a young woman crumbling under the pressures of new motherhood...
Book 15
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Everyone's an art critic. First Takuya's brainy friend Hitoshi reveals his secret passion for drawing stories about space heroes, only to get into a feud with Fujii over the artistic direction of the project. Then Minoru takes his favorite picture book a little too seriously and becomes convinced that a wolf is breaking into his house. And Takuya helps his friend Hirose's manga-artist dad get over a serious case of creative block--and patch things up with Hirose in the process.
Book 16
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Takuya and his friends share a beach house over summer vacation and run afoul of Moriguchi's foxy grandma, who loves checking out the hot young studs at the beach...and hates looking after kids. But when Minoru and his fellow toddlers get lost in the woods, it's grandma to the rescue! Then Takuya looks after a neighbor's talking parakeet, much to the delight of Minoru. What happens when Minoru gives into the temptation to let their guest out of his cage just once?
Book 17
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
At the annual school festival Takuya and his friends deal with girls, bullies, the geeks from the Audio-Visual Club...and a whole passel of lost toddlers. Then Takuya's dad, sleeping off a few too many after-work drinks, has a very strange dream. And an overprotective parent threatens to destroy the Sunflower Nursery School with her demands for absolute safety!
Book 18
Young Takuya has it tough. Since his mother passed away, he's had to take care of his baby brother Minoru while their father works the long hours of a Japanese salaryman.
Final Volume!
Sometimes raising a baby is enough to make any overworked junior-high boy lose his patience. But when tragedy strikes, Takuya gets a painful reminder of just how much he's learned to love Minoru. In the two boys' darkest hour, with all of their friends and neighbors gathered to support them, can the bonds of brotherhood prevail? Don't miss the emotional final volume of Baby & Me!