About "AKAMARU"
What is the "AKAMARU" series?
The "AKAMARU" series (written by Daisuke Shimizu) is a Japanese baby picture book series published by Poplar Publishing since 2017.
The first one, "Akamaru: Which one is it? has sold more than 140,000 copies and won fifth place in the 2018 MOE Picture Book Store Grand Prix Papamama Award. The four titles in the series have sold more than 260,000 copies in total, making it a popular series that can be considered a new standard for baby picture books in Japan.
The basic concept of this series
The basic concept of this series is "finger pointing".
If you ask questions through this book such as "Which is the red one?” or “Which one is the biggest?”, your child will respond "This one!” and point with your finger. This is not just memorizing what is written on the board, but rather thinking for themselves and coming up with answers, which will help your child grow "grounded = the ability to think for themselves".
Like the book series, this application also aims to help children develop the ability to think for themselves through thinking and playing by themselves.
Poplar Publishing's official website "Akamaru Dorekana" bibliography page
About the Author
Shimizu Daisuke
Born in Osaka in 1976. Works at Kyoda Creation Co. Art director and illustrator. He has planned, illustrated and designed many picture books and children's books with various touches.
Major works include "Dobutsu dare ka? (Nagaoka Shoten), "Nendokun donna oto? (Kodansha) ". He is also in charge of character design for "Red Harry(R)", the official character of the NTT Docomo Red Hurricanes Osaka.He also holds workshops for children.
As a father of two children, he is also struggling to raise them. Hobbies are camera, camping and DIY.