It's an autobiography of the childhood and unusual education of Tetsuko Kuroyanagi (1933 - present), one of Japan's most famous long-time celebrities.
The story takes place mostly at Tomoe elementary school, where children had their lessons in old train cars and did musical dictation by writing on the floor with chalk. They had regular periods of independent learning and afternoon walks through the fields of Jiyūgaoka.
It's an interesting read because Tomoe's pedagogy was unconventional, even by today's standards.
Meanwhile, the lively Totto-chan herself is an endearing protagonist. As is Tomoe's beloved principal, Soūsaku Kobayashi, who traveled as far as Europe to observe teaching methods there.
Even if you aren't interested in Japan or Japanese, you might enjoy the book, which is available in English as Totto-Chan: The Little Girl at the Window. It has also been translated into an impressive range of Asian languages.
Totto-chan for Japanese reading practice
If you are interested in learning Japanese, Totto-chan should be a manageable read at JLPT N3 level and a leisurely read at N2 level. I believe it isn't a tough read for (Japanese) upper-elementary school kids.
I received the book as a gift from an older Japanese friend over 2 years ago. But being barely at N4 level then, I could hardly understand Totto-chan's grammar. So I put the book aside.
I picked it up again this year while studying for N2. I could finally enjoy it, even without a dictionary!
Wanting to finish Totto-chan for good, I resolved to read it regularly. Sometimes I read it "for study," by checking every unfamiliar word in the dictionary. I did that often enough for it to stop being a pain to check the dictionary! (A useful mental breakthrough.) Other times, I read the book "for leisure," sans dictionary.
But I wasn't used to reading Japanese at length. It's a hurdle your brain just needs practice to overcome, I suppose.
I needed an incentive to read daily: If I read my day's quota of Totto-chan, I could read my English novel. No Totto, no English novel.
The incentive worked, as I had a craving for English fiction then.
The quota was 4 pages a day. After my N2 exam, I upped the quota to 6 pages a day and, subsequently, 7 pages a day.
Lessons learned:
- Choose a book that's the right level for you. It shouldn't be painful to read.
- Give yourself time to get used to a new book. Every book has a different writing style, etc.
- Set yourself a compelling reward/punishment, if you need motivation.
- Begin with an easy-to-reach quota. You can increase the quota later.