Soseki Natsume's I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition: The tale of a cat with no name but great wisdom!

I Am A Cat: The Manga Edition by Soseki Natsume is a beautifully illustrated version of a Japanese classic, the original being written over a hundred years ago. The book contains pearls of Japanese wisdom as a cat walks among the people of Tokyo. The whole book is beautifully illustrated by Chiroru Kobato. The cats are stunning. I did not always follow the story but I loved all the illustrations of the cat. I imagine it is best to read the original first and this edition afterwards as then the story may be easier to follow, but I loved the cat pictures.

Although “I am a cat” is a famous and popular piece by Soseki Natsume, the way the book is written in Japanese seemed not approachable, which put me off Soseki’s book. I decided to give it a go only after I saw the cute illustrations of a cat and approachable English translation. I was flabbergasted and dumbfounded at the end that the cat drowned after sipping beer.

I bought this just to see. But loved it just a few pages in . My daughter and her friends also love this book with its manga style. A great read, with a interesting, cute story

猫好きの小学生に購入しました。有名な場面を取り上げて、うまくつなげて構成されています。 絵がとても可愛らしく、表情豊かに描かれているおかげで、夏目漱石の作品に初めて触れてみようかという子どもたちへの導入にも、ぴったりだと思います。漫画で大変シンプルな英語ですので、中学生でも読み進めやすいでしょう。明治ごろの生活の様子もとてもわかりやすいので、最初の一冊にぜひおすすめです。