#Kadono Eiko

[cottageaesthetic]

[haveyoureadthisfantasybook]

vote yes if you have finished the entire book.

vote no if you have not finished the entire book.

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[wondrousmay]

In celebration of the 40th anniversary of Kiki’s Delivery Service, the first volume of the beloved children’s novel by Eiko Kadono will be re-released on February 3, 2025 with a special cover illustrated by Tatsuya Endo, the creator of the hit manga SPY×FAMILY.

Comments from the Creators

Eiko Kadono, Author:

"It’s been 40 years since the first volume of Kiki’s Delivery Service was published in 1985. I feel incredibly fortunate that this story has been loved by so many for so long. Together with Kiki—and of course, Jiji—I express my deepest gratitude. Thank you! This year, for the 40th anniversary, the talented manga artist Tatsuya Endo has drawn a special cover featuring Kiki flying through the night sky. Please enjoy this vibrant depiction of Kiki’s spirit! There’s also a special campaign with wonderful prizes to celebrate."

Tatsuya Endo, Illustrator:

"Congratulations on the 40th anniversary of Kiki’s Delivery Service! To prepare for the illustration, I reread the story for the first time since I was in middle school. It’s filled with so much kindness and warmth that I couldn’t hold back tears. I’m deeply honored to contribute to this masterpiece, which has been loved for so many years. My sincerest thanks to Eiko Kadono, Fukuinkan Shoten, and everyone involved for this wonderful opportunity."

(Source)

[balu8]

Kiki's Delivery Service 

directed by Hayao Miyazaki

Concept art

Studio Ghibli 1989

[fourthousandbooks]

How about I deliver you a review?

I promise this blog isn't dead, I just got stuck on reviewing one of the meatier books I read this year and that made doing any reviews a whole ordeal but that's a problem for a different day when I'm not talking about the most recent book I finished!

I got to read something really special, the book of a movie I loved as a kid and couldn't ever find because it wasn't translated into english at the time, but twenty some odd years later, a copy of Kiki's Delivery Service somehow managed to float into my hands and I devoured the whole book in an afternoon.

I will start by noting that the book and the movie are two very different animals, so if you go into either one expecting the same story, you'll be disappointed. But I've known this for years and was expecting to see something that would have shades of one of my favorite movies while still being a different story.

It starts in the same place, with Kiki being a thirteen year old witch ready to set out for her training, but it shifts very quickly, for one thing her parents have been pushing her to leave for a while and she has to ask her dad to buy her a radio. She takes off on a clear full moon night and flies south until she's able to find the not so little town of Kokiri by the sea and decides to settle down and try being a witch for a year.

Kiki is a delightful character from the getgo, she's sassy and determined and also so very sweet. Even though she's determined to be a more modern witch and not just follow tradition, her journey is more about discovering what sort of witch she wants to be, and finds that she's happy to keep some of the traditions around. She loves her black cat, and while she's not so pleased with the long black dress at first, she comes to enjoy it and her inherited broom too, all the while running a little errand system, doing deliveries for people with the idea that they'll share something in kind. Money isn't the concern, she'll swap delivering a birthday present for the chance to make a friend, she'll accept a knitted belly band for her cat and future knitting lessons to deliver a belly band to a sailor with a boat that's getting on there in years, her first delivery is an exchange of returning a pacifier to a baby and being given some delicious rolls. Her journey is less a journey of self discovery and more just... growing up. She knows most of the things that are important to her and picks up more of them as she goes.

Compared to the movie, the book is very relaxed, there's no plot with her losing her witch's power from overwork, there's nothing about having to leave behind childhood including being able to talk to her beloved cat, in fact Jiji has been her cat since infancy and the book makes it clear that they will be close friends till Kiki is completely grown up, and if they wish to live separate lives then, they can. What there is instead is a lot of little stories about her meeting people and getting integrated into the city of Kokiri, going from the strange girl who people are a little afraid of to their very own beloved delivery witch. At the end of the book she makes it through her first year and gets to go home for some time, but discovers that though she is happy to be home, she misses her work and her seaside city and the people there, and chooses to return earlier than planned in order to see them all again.

It was a really nice, soft read for a cold winter's day! It's a children's book, and one that could easily be enjoyed by a kid who's just seen the movie (as long as they're not a book purist snob who'll turn their nose up to any changes from the book, I speak from sad example here), but there's something to it for adults too. It's just such a nice whimsical read and I had a wonderful time and immediately added it to my bookshelves as a book to keep.

[cantheywinthehungergames]

@rockett-to-the-purple-moon

Tribute Name: Kiki

Age: 13

Restrictions: No magic of any kind

If you would like to see a character aged 12-18 enter the Hunger Games, please submit them through my asks. 19+ aged character submissions are currently closed.

Please also look at my pinned post for submission rules as well as a list of previously submitted characters prior to submitting your character.

[a-ramblinrose]

💖✨️Rose's Last Book Haul of 2023 ✨️💖

[mourning-museum333]

Illustration credit to Tatsuya Endo

For the 40th anniversary of the book written by Eiko Kadano and later the movie by Studio Ghibli - Kiki’s Delivery Service

[thespaghettiman427]

I completely forgot I could post craft stuff so here's this book rebinding I did like a month ago:

also the aftermath:

and the tutorial I used is here

I only used parts of it tho. I didn't feel like making an actual spine so I used painters tape and sharpie. I also ran out of white glue a quarter of the way through so for most of it I ended up using a gluestick and superglue. worked out nicely tho because then I could keep working without having to take breaks waiting for glue to dry. the cover isn't printed like in the tutorial either. it's layers of marker colored cardstock over a cover I cut off of an old school notebook (the one on the floor). I drew and cut out the silhouette of kiki myself. I also liked the lettering in the original cover so I cut those out too and glued them on. I also cut out eiko kadonos author picture, glued it to the back, and rewrote the "about the author" bit under it. the inside of the covers is black to match the spine and lettering.

all in all I don't think I did too bad for my first try at bookbinding. with materials I had at home no less.

it took about 10 hours in total not including weighing it down overnight

[the-shades-of-night-descend]

Kiki's Delivery Service, Hayao Miyazaki/Studio Ghibli, 1989

[theblurbwitchproject]

Kiki's Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono

Published: June 1, 2021 Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire

The Author

Eiko Kadono is a Japanese author and has published nearly two hundred original works, most of which are books for children. In 1985, she published the children's novel Majo no Takkyūbin, which was later adapted into the Hayao Miyazaki animated film with the same title. Both the novel and the film are known by the English title Kiki's Delivery Service. The book was awarded the Hans Christian Andersen Award, among others, and she followed on this success with four sequels in the same series. She lives in the Kanagawa prefecture of Japan.

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The Story

Half-witch Kiki never runs from a challenge. So when her thirteenth birthday arrives, she's eager to follow a witch's tradition: choose a new town to call home for one year. Brimming with confidence, Kiki flies to the seaside village of Koriko and expects that her powers will easily bring happiness to the townspeople. But gaining the trust of the locals is trickier than she expected. With her faithful, wise-cracking black cat, Jiji, by her side, Kiki forges new friendships and builds her inner strength, ultimately realizing that magic can be found in even the most ordinary places.

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The Vibe: coming of age, whimsical, cosy, episodic adventures, wholesome, quirky, comfort read

The Style: japanese translation, children's literature, middle grade, chapter book, cute illustrations

Trigger Warnings: none

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The Review

Writing this review in 2024, I'd be surprised if you hadn't already seen, or at the very least heard of, Studio Ghibli's 1989 film Kiki's Delivery Service. As with all Ghibli movies, it is a lovingly animated piece with quirky characters and a wonderful soundtrack. Less people may be aware that, rather than being an original screenplay, the movie was based off the 1985 children’s novel of the same name.

According to Kadono, the story itself was inspired by a drawing her daughter drew of a witch flying through the sky with a radio, musical notes dancing around her. When creating Kiki, Kadono framed the character around her own daughter, who was also 12-years-old at the time. Drawing inspiration from her own daughter definitely brought life to Kiki, who experiences thoughts and feelings that all young girls go through in a considered and realistic way. I feel that this is the true heart of the story, and is why it touched so many people when it hit the big screen. The book itself is written for Middle Grade readers, and is a very simple story that adult readers could knock out in a day.

“I want everything to be brand-new - my clothes, my shoes, my broom, too. I want to be reborn. I’m sure Mom’ll say, ‘You’re from a long line of witches, so you need to value the old.” But I’m me. I’m a new witch.”

As with the film adaptation, the novel starts with Kiki preparing to leave home for her “Coming-of-Age” day, an event which kick-starts the year of mandatory independence that every 13 year-old witch is required to undertake. (It gives me a Pokémon vibe; how such young characters are encouraged to leave home to undertake some huge adventure on their own.) Kiki is confident in herself in the way only a child could be. She’s ready to start her life on her terms, but over the course of the story she begins to grow and experience cute developmental moments that show that she is moving on from childhood and becoming more knowledgeable about the world around her. These moments really show Kadono’s understanding of young girls like her daughter. Kiki begins to have doubts and questions about how things work as she settles in her new town, but still manages to make herself a little home above a shop owned by the lovely Osono, a friendly and heavily pregnant baker. If more people were like Osono, maybe kids could actually have more wholesome adventures out in the world??

How can I discuss Kiki without talking about her familiar, the black cat, Jiji? Within the lore of the book, a new-born witches’ mother searches for a black kitten born around the same time as her daughter, so that they can be raised together (super cute!). As they grow, they develop a special relationship and learn to communicate in their own language that no one else can understand. It turns out that Jiji is particularly sassy and can be a little cranky, but always comes through for Kiki when she needs help. While he can talk, Jiji is very much a cat, “Jiji shot her a reproachful glance and then made up his mind to ignore her altogether.” If you liked Jiji in the movie, you won’t be disappointed in his book counterpart; he’s just the best, and a good companion for Kiki as she sets off into the world on her Coming-of-Age day.

“Gradually, everyone’s waving hands below grew harder to see, and all the lights of the town twinkled like a starry night turned upside down. The full moon hung in the sky, watching over Kiki. Eventually even the lights of the town faded, and all she could see below were mountains shaped like the dark backs of animals.”

Kiki chooses to settle in a seaside town called Koriko, and most of the novel focuses around her living in Osono’s spare room and running “Kiki’s Delivery Service”, her own small business. She meets a whole bunch of unusual characters, some of whom would fit perfectly into a Roald Dahl story. Her slow ingratiation into the hearts of the town is well done, considering the episodic nature of each chapter and the simplistic narration. In the witchy tradition of Kadono’s universe, Kiki doesn’t accept payments for her deliveries; she takes small things in return like food or being taught a new skill. In this way, she grows as a person and becomes more self-sufficient, while still experiencing typical tween-girl issues like dealing with crushes, “Mysterious? Is that how I’m supposed to act? Maybe there’s something wrong with me?” The book walks the fine line between simple writing and slightly deeper exploration of Kiki’s character extremely well.

While the film is very faithful to the core characters, especially Kiki, Jiji and Osono, there are a number of plot differences in the book. The young painter who lives in the woods is there, although she doesn’t play as large of a role in the novel. Tombo is also a side character, and while he is still a friend of Kiki’s there are a few major differences in his storyline, although they still have a cute, innocent courtship. The novel gives more emphasis to the various jobs that Kiki completes in her career as a flying courier, and no major crisis of confidence occurs that causes Kiki to forget how to fly her broom or talk to Jiji. Like I said, this is a children’s book, and even small amounts of movie melancholy aren’t present; it’s sweet and heart-warming rather than inserting drama for the narrative’s sake.

“Kiki, make sure you come back, all right? We’re so happy to have a witch as our neighbor. Everyone says that if they go three days without seeing you flying through the sky, they feel like something is missing.”

If you’re a big fan of the Studio Ghibli film, this book is worth checking out, if only to spend a little bit more time seeing Jiji being the sass master that he is, but remember that it is very much a children’s book and therefore a super simple read. I would definitely recommend it for younger readers, particularly if they enjoy stories like The Worst Witch by Jill Murphy. Kiki’s Delivery Service is very cosy and wholesome; if you feel like reading the book equivalent of a hot chocolate on a cold day, it’s one for you.

Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌑🌑

[Goodreads]

[bookcoversonly]

Title: Kiki's Delivery Service | Author: Eiko Kadono | Publisher: Delacorte Press (2020)

[groovy-lady]

My new books (The Memory of Lavender and Sage, A Novel by Aimie K. Runyan; Kiki’s Delivery Service by Eiko Kadono B&N Collector’s Edition; and The Sunflower: On the Limits and Possibilities of Forgiveness by Simon Weisenthal), the 221B Baker Street game, and my new Starry Night sketchbook!!!

[catkurohazama]

"Hey Kiki! Look, it's me!"

[balu8]

Kiki's Delivery Service 40th anniversary

Paperback cover by Tatsuya Endo

[adamwatchesmovies]

Kiki's Delivery Service (1989)

From its premise, Kiki’s Delivery Service sounds like the perfect film to keep young children quiet while you finish that big project due tomorrow. It isn’t; not really. Although children are sure to love it, only older viewers will understand its introspective themes and fully appreciate its story and visuals.

As she turns thirteen, Kiki (voiced by Minami Takayama, Lisa Michelson or Kirsten Dunst depending on the version you see) leaves home with her broom and animal companion - a black cat named Jiji (Rei Sakuma, Kerrigan Mahan or Phil Hartman) - to learn the ways of the world. Arriving via broomstick to the port city of Koriko, Kiki initially struggles to find her place until she opens a delivery service with the help of baker Osono (Keiko Toda, Alexandra Kenworthy, or Tress MacNeille).

There’s a fair amount of humor as Kiki misplaces a toy she's delivering for a birthday, is courted by a young airplane enthusiast (Kappei Yamaguchi, Eddie Frierson, or Matthew Lawrence) and struggles with the unique challenges that accompany a young witch in a big city. But this is not a comedy. Is it an adventure? No. There is no villain after Kiki’s powers, the snooty older witch Kiki meets on the way to Koriko doesn’t come back to fight her. There’s nothing like that. This is a coming-of-age drama and much of what we see are metaphors as Kiki - like many young women - realizes that leaving your parent’s house is a big step in figuring out what kind of person you will become. She thought she was going to spend all day zipping between buildings on her broom, but mostly, she's cleaning, waiting for orders to come in, figuring out what to charge for her work and realizing that she can put in a superhuman effort to make sure the job gets done right but hardly receive even a thank you. Kiki’s Delivery Service is about Kiki finding herself, figuring out what role she will fulfill in society and where she belongs.

It’s better to know this isn’t a fast-paced barrel of laughs or a syringe of adrenaline pumped into your veins before hitting 'play' on your remote. The earlier you realize what you’re in for, the more you’ll appreciate the story’s relaxing pace. Kiki does a lot of thinking on this journey and the time she spends gazing at the clouds or contemplating what’s next allows you to do the same. You get to fully enjoy the scenery and gorgeous visuals. You find the time to think about the choices Kiki makes as she prepares for her day, what it means to her when she misses an appointment and how the people she meets will influence her future.

Kiki’s Delivery Service is lovely because it never tries to be anything but itself. Life-defining issues are dealt with in a way that makes them fresh without diminishing or trivializing their importance to teens and young adults. You could also completely miss the more thoughtful aspects of this tale and enjoy it as a lighthearted tale about a young witch growing up. The marvelous traditional animation - a trademark of Studio Ghibli - makes it a joy to simply watch. Though you wouldn’t think it considering its relatively low-key story, Kiki’s Delivery Service makes a big impact. (English Dub, October 16, 2020)