Sumo Opposites by Sanae Ishida

Sumo Opposites (Little Sumo)

by Sanae Ishida

Perfect for early learning, this fun board book in the Little Sumo series, from the creator of the Little Kunoichi series, features sumo wrestlers that introduce children to the concept of opposites, and shares elements of Japanese culture that will enrich readers of all ages.

Take a peek into the lives of sumo wrestlers in this adorable book about opposites! Simple, charming scenes with sumo wrestlers help young readers learn the concept of opposites, like awake and asleep, and up and down. The Japanese word that corresponds to the English word for each opposite is included.

Reviewed by annieb123 on

5 of 5 stars

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Originally posted on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Sumo Opposites is a bilingual Japanese/English illustrated book for babies and children about opposites written and illustrated by Sanae Ishida. Due out 7th Sept 2021 from Sasquatch imprint Little Bigfoot, it's 22 pages and will be available in boardbook format.

This is such a fun book with engaging colourful and fun illustrations full of movement and learning opportunities. Each of the illustrations covers two full pages with simple inset text describing the pictures simply with words shown in both English and Japanese hiragana / IPA. It's written as opposites: "up/down", "awake/asleep", "full/empty" etc and each subsequent picture is filled with more little sumo wrestlers doing sumo thing in their daily lives; eating, training, dressing and washing. The illustrations are full of subtle little extras which will provide lots of opportunity for hunt and find during reading time.

I really liked that this little book (and the other one in the series) is full of Japanese vocabulary which is easy to understand. All the Japanese words included in the text are also defined with their IPA/hiragana in the text. This would make a wonderful all-ages book for babies up to adults who want to learn a few rudimentary words as well as simple cultural things from Japan.

Additionally, and it has no real bearing on the book review, but the author/artist, Sanae Ishida's own website and blog are wonderfully creative and full of beautifully designed and constructed sewn clothing, watercolors, printables, papercrafts, and insight. She's a multi-talented creative soul and I am in awe of her sheer productivity.

Five stars.

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 23 May, 2021: Finished reading
  • 23 May, 2021: Reviewed