The long-awaited summer vacation is here! Parents and children spend more time together than usual during summer vacation, so while trips to the mountains or the sea are great, enjoying a relaxing time at home with a cool shaved ice is sure to create wonderful summer memories.

So, FASHION HEADLINE asked book-loving bookstore owners for their recommendations for picture books that both adults and children can enjoy during the summer vacation!

We have a unique lineup that will further enrich your senses, including picture books that are like art books that are a visual treat, picture books that you'll want to read out loud, picture books with a memorable rhythm, and picture books that you can read at your own pace. In this first installment of our series, we introduce four books recommended by the art book shop NADiff.


Uncle Jari (Shinro Ohtake/Publisher: Fukuinkan Shobo)

Uncle Jari, who lives with a view of the ocean every day, has a beard growing on the tip of his nose. One day, Uncle Jari suddenly turns his back on the sea and starts walking... The greeting "Jari Jari," the pages are filled with surreal images, and the story is outlandish. The illustrations and rhythmic vocabulary are by Shinro Ohtake, one of Japan's leading contemporary artists. If you fall in love with this original picture book, it's sure to become one of your favorites, one you'll return to again and again.





"Po-pa-pe-po-pip-pappu" (Illustrations: Okazaki Kentaro, Text: Tanikawa Shuntaro / Published by Crayon House)

"Pipipi pipipu pu-pe pipu-pe-pepe" These mysterious words made with "pa-pipu-pe-po" will make you want to say them out loud. Because they are so simple, the more ways you read them, the more new sounds will be born. This is a book you'll want to read aloud, whether with your child or friends. And best of all, the illustrations of the strange, colorful, horned creatures by sculptor Kenjiro Okazaki are adorable.





"Water Creatures" (Illustrations and text: Rambaros Jha, translated by Ichikawa Eri / Published by Kawade Shobo Shinsha)

These are handmade picture books, each one silkscreened in a workshop in India. The warmth of the handmade paper is filled with the joy of turning each page. The delicate lines drawn in the style of traditional Indian folk painting, Mithila painting, and the expressions of the fish and crabs that appear one after another are full of exotic charm. This is a picture book like a collection of works that parents and children can enjoy reading together, turning the pages.





"Dormitory and Tomkins" (Takano Fumiko/Publisher: Chuokoron-Shinsha)

This is more of a manga than a picture book, but it's a book I highly recommend for the summer holidays. It is set in a fictional setting, wondering what would happen if real scientists lived in the student dormitory "Dormitory and Tomkins." Tomonaga Shinichiro, Makino Tomitaro, Nakaya Ukichiro, and Yukawa Hideki appear as students, and their words and writings are introduced in various scenes. It's not difficult to understand, and the simple illustrations make it a book that makes you want to read it and learn more. To prepare for further reading, why not try it during your summer vacation when you have more time? It's recommended for elementary school children and above, as well as adults.