Bookstart Japan ～The experience of picture book reading time will help babies and their families bond with each other and the local community.～

Bookstart is an initiative by local municipal administrations and citizens to offer "picture books" and the "experience" of reading picture books to families and children, at group health check-ups for babies under one-year-old; as well as on other occasions.
These activities began in the UK in 1992 and have been implemented throughout Japan since April 2001. Bookstart Japan supports the Bookstart program in each municipality to provide a fun and exciting time for all babies to experience picture books. Bookstart Japan is also expanding the program's multilingual availability. We spoke with Ms. Tomomi Otsu and Ms. Ayako Mikami of Bookstart Japan, which supports local municipalities working on the Bookstart program.

 

"Share Books" not "Read Books"

Bookstart was started in the UK in 1992 by Wendy Cooling, a picture book consultant, who met a 5-year-old boy who had never read of picture books and wished that all children could discover the joy of reading a picture book. In Japan - the second country after the UK to introduce the program - after the pilot implementation in the “Year of Reading for Children” in 2000, the program spread in a grassroots-like manner to local municipalities nationwide. As of the end of August 2024, Bookstart programs are in place in 1,115 municipalities, in Japan.
The Bookstart program is operated by people in various backgrounds who support child-rearing in the community, such as library staff, public health center staff, child-rearing support section staff, and citizen volunteers, who work together and share a common desire for babies' happiness. To cover all babies born in the municipality where the program is held, and their families, the Bookstart program is implemented on occasions such as group health checkups for babies under one year of age. In many communities, after the checkups or in between checkups, the program staff meets with each duo of a parent and their baby to read a picture book to them and give them one as a gift.

"We hope to support providing equal opportunities for children to open picture books, regardless of whether they are interested in books or not, no matter what their financial situation or family background may be. Many parents are anxious about the checkups for babies under one year of age, as it is the first time for many parents to take their babies out of the house after the birth of their child. The Bookstart (program) itself is only about five minutes long, but we hope (parents) will feel a connection with the community through the time that community members reach out to them and their children and read a picture book to them," says Ms. Mikami said.

 

Value not only "reading books" but also "sharing books" with others.

The picture books to be presented are chosen at a selection meeting held every three years.
Five selection committee members, including picture book researchers, librarians, and experts in infant development, confirm the needs of the local municipalities and parents for the program. Then, they discuss and pick out 30 titles of picture books that have gone through the selection process from the perspective of babies.
From these 30 titles, each municipality gives one or two picture books to babies and their families, based on each municipality's budget. Picture books are provided to each municipality at non-profit prices by each cooperating publisher, through Bookstart Japan.

 

For the babies, it was their first picture book. And some parents were surprised to find that their 0-year-olds seemed to enjoy it, while others found that they, as parents, were also relaxed by reading the book to them. Some parents who did not know how to interact with their children have said that they were able to more naturally play with their children through picture books.
"What we value as Bookstart is not only to read picture books but also to share a joyful moment and books when (families and) their babies open a picture book together. Through picture books, we cherish the opportunity to provide a fun experience where (families) and their babies can interact with each other and sing nursery songs together," says Ms. Mikami.

 

Encouraging Parents and Babies with Foreign Roots to Enjoy Picture Books More

In recent years, the number of babies and parents with foreign roots has been increasing in Japan, and Bookstart Japan has been making various efforts to help them enjoy reading picture books.
In 2004, they created a foreign language version of the "Advice Booklet" for picture book time with babies.In some countries, there is no habit such as parents reading books to or with their children, so Bookstart Japan introduced the joy of spending time with babies using illustrations, and short passages of text, in the booklet.
The "Multilingual Picture Book Introduction Leaflet" is a resource that introduces picture books in eight languages and Plain Japanese. For example, the introduction to the picture book Appu-ppu explains when to say "appu-ppu" and what kind of play it is.
"Picture books are written in simple language, but depict the unique Japanese culture and use onomatopoeia and mimetic words. We created it (the leaflet) in the hope that it would help (babies and their families) enjoy picture books, even if only a little."

 

In addition, the local municipality of Fujisawa City in Kanagawa Prefecture put up a large poster saying "Hello" in various languages to make families with foreign roots feel at ease about coming to the Bookstart venue. Using the idea of this multilingual poster, Bookstart Japan has created a "greeting poster" that is available for each municipality to download free of charge. The messages "Hello"and "We offer picture books for babies" are written in 13 languages that cover about 90% of the native languages of foreign residents aged zero to one years old.
"We would be happy if this was a step toward telling (parents and babies with foreign roots) that they are welcome here," says Ms. Mikami.

In 2023, "multilingual picture books" with translation stickers in five languages were provided to local municipalities on a trial basis.

 

Bookstart Japan conducted an implementation test of "multilingual picture books" from August 2023 to February 2024. "Multilingual picture books" are Japanese picture books with stickers printed with translations in five languages (Chinese, Korean, Vietnamese, Nepalese, and Portuguese) so that foreign parents and children can easily enjoy picture books in their native languages.
"About 10 years ago, I had the opportunity to meet Mr. Izumi Yamada - a former professor at Hosei University who specialized in Japanese language education and multicultural symbiosis - and he taught me how important the mother tongue was. Mr. Yamada asked me whether (parents and children with foreign roots) might be able to read picture books in a foreign language (Japanese), but if it is in (their) mother tongue, parents can also talk to their children with a sense of self-affirmation. I felt the need to seriously consider the importance of the mother tongue," says Ms. Mikami.

In this way, Bookstart Japan, with the cooperation of copyright holders, publishers, researchers, translators, foreign language teachers, and an NPO, produced six multilingual picture books out of <Bookstart's 30 Picture Books for Babies>. These books were then sold to municipalities on a trial basis.
"Picture books are designed with the positioning of illustrations and text. So, we were careful not to break the world of the picture book by putting multilingual stickers on them," says Ms. Mikami.

 

The following comments were received from local municipalities that had utilized multilingual picture books:

• When (parents) saw picture books with their native language on them, they looked relieved.
• A lot of times, (families and parents) respond happily, "Thank you."
• We felt that we could help parents more closely because we could present picture books in a language they could understand.

A Nepalese mother living in a small town in Japan - which had an annual birthrate of 25 - was one of the recipients of multilingual picture books. She was very pleased with them being in the language of her own country. Later, when the public health nurse made a house call to that Nepalese mother and child’s home, the mother told the nurse that she had read that picture book many times.
"The public health nurse who handed picture books (to the Nepalese mother) said that she was able to build a relationship of trust with that lady through the picture book. Through the Bookstart program, the community can send a message to parents and children that it supports their child-rearing efforts. For parents and children (who receive picture books), it seems to be an opportunity to sense a connection with the community. This was a trial implementation, but we hope to further consider foreign-language picture books in the future, and to move forward with a system, structure, as well as how to implement it," says Ms. Otsu.

Sending Picture Books to All Babies

The BookStart program is for "all babies". They offer more than just multilingual picture books. To support both babies with disabilities and their parents, they also provide Tenyaku Picture Books*1 and Braille Picture Books*2 with stickers in braille and tactile diagrams.

*1 Tenyaku picture books are books with braille and transparent sheets applied, so that the shapes of the pictures can be recognized by touch. (Tenyaku means braille transcription.)
*2 Braille picture books are those with braille and pictures that are printed in raised print, so that the reader can touch and feel the pictures. Braille picture books are commercially available for purchase. (-Source from the Bookstart Japan website)

It has been over 20 years since the Bookstart program began in Japan, and the first babies who received picture books are now adults. At the coming-of-age ceremony held in Nishi-Tokyo City, a survey was conducted about the picture books that were handed out at the Bookstart program, and many people remembered those books. Even if these young people were given these books as babies, they may have kept them in their memories because they kept them at home or heard stories about them from their families.
"They may not remember when they were read (those books by their parents). But when they see them, I think they would feel that their parents were reading those books to them and that they remember feeling loved," says Ms. Mikami.

The Bookstart initiative will surely continue to grow and expand in order to bring picture books and the experience of enjoying picture books to "all babies," and to enable the community to rejoice and support the birth and growth of each newborn baby.

*This article is based on information available at the time of the interview. For the latest information, please contact the organization directly.