Edu-Manga: Helen Adams Keller

I just read this book to my 5-year old daughter and she was hooked from beginning to end. I'm not sure that means this book is for kindergartners, but manga (Japanese comic books) in general tend to have a cinematic style that, at least in the case of Helen Keller's story, worked surprisingly well for reading aloud. Since I do not know much about Helen Keller I can't say whether this "Edu-Manga" gets the story 100% right, but I'll give the author and artist the benefit of the doubt of having strived for accuracy. Overall, it felt like I was learning something along with my daughter, so I presume most people new to Helen Keller's amazing story would benefit from reading it, especially book-averse teens (I personally have no problem with gaining information through comic books/graphic novels/manga), which is undoubtedly the Edu-Manga series' target demographic. I would have given the book 5 stars, but the translation at times retains too much in the way of Japanese modes of speech. For instance, the translator has the book's characters throughout the story call Helen Keller's assistant "Teacher" rather than "MIss Sullivan" or "Anne." As a student of Japanese I know that this is simply a direct translation of the word "sensei" (teacher), which is how Japanese people refer to teachers whether they know their name or not. Americans, though, do not speak this way, and that and other awkward translations give the dialogue a stilted feeling at times. Also, a quick look at the Wikipedia article on Helen Keller shows her to have been a brunette as a child, whereas the artist made her a typical blonde caucasian girl of the type found throughout the Japanese manga universe. Nonetheless, these are really quibbles, and if this and the other Edu-Manga help kids learn history, then they've done their job. Overall, a fine effort.