An interesting and unusual book, but one which I struggled to really understand.
For that reason I was unable to share it with my young grandchildren (and explain the story to them) so maybe something I will be able to do when they are older.

Tell Me a Story, Please follows Yuka, a first grader who can read, but loves it when her mother reads to her. Her mother is expecting a baby and Yuka is very excited about her new brother. But when the baby comes, Yuka's mother does not have time to read to her. Yuka finds an appreciative audience when she starts reading to the animals in the forest and the animals benefit in an unexpected way. This is a beautiful story about the arrival of a new sibling, gaining confidence through reading and the importance of inclusive stories.

This is a fun book with fairy tales. The little girl liked it when her mother read to her but she was going to have a baby and then she didn't have time...
Museyon and Net Galley let me read this book for review (thank you). It has been published and you can get a copy now.

She goes out to sit under a tree and decides to read out loud. She's surprised when she looks up and finds the animals listening. They ask her to tell them another story.

So every Saturday, she sits under the tree and reads them another story.

One tale she read them she put them in it. That became a favorite and managed to save her forest...

My youngest really liked this story and thought it was cool that the animals got together to want to listen to a story being read to them. She tried to pull her stuffed animals out just to read to them like our character does to the animals in this book. Yuka is just like every other kid who loves when their parent reads to them. So when her baby brother is born, mom is too busy or tired to read. Yuka is now trying to find someone to read or listen to her tell a story. When she can not find anyone, she moves into the abandoned lot and starts reading there. Little does she know that the cute forest animals are listening to her read. Which is great for her because she is building her confidence. I love this message on this.
The story is sweet, and I loved the Japanese folktales that were read to the animals. I find it to be fascinating.
I hope that the ebook formatting has been fixed, as the copy I read was choppy on some pages, and others were missing some wording.

'Tell Me a Story, Please' by Kyoko Hara with illustrations by Kazue Takahashi is a book about a young girl who finds a group of friends to read to.

Yuka loves when her mom reads to her, but with a new baby in the house that isn't happening. Her attempts to find others to read to her fails, so she takes her book in to the woods and reads aloud. She gains an audience of forest creatures and teaches them to help themselves when their home is threatened.

This is a charming story with cute illustrations. I think young readers might be encouraged to read aloud like Yuka.

Such a charming story!

I enjoyed Kyoko Hara's warm and comforting tale of a young girl finding a new place for herself in her family. It takes courage to find her way, but Yuka's forest friends lend a paw, and Yuka discovers how much she can do for herself.

Of course, her family isn't far away. And they warmly applaud her achievements.

Kazue Takahashi's illustrations are so simply and comforting. They grew on me right away - I can see why this style is so popular!

I was pleased to read a new book in the Forest Friends series by Hara and Takahashi. This story features a new character to the series, a girl named Yuka. She loves for her mother to read to her from her favorite book of fairy tales, but once her new baby brother is born her mother is often too busy to read. Yuka takes her book and reads to herself in a wooded area near her home. Slowly the woodland creatures all come to enjoy the stories and even receive some inspiration on how to solve a problem by imitating the characters in one of the stories.

Older readers will guess what the problem is, even though the animals do not mention it to Yuka, and they will be pleased with the end result. It shows how literature may sometimes inspire solutions to real life problems. The book also shows how familiar stories may comfort a child when there are changes at home or a parent is too busy for quiet time together. Yuka even improves her reading so much that the teacher comments on it.

Even though winter comes and Yuka may no longer visit her woodland friends, she plans ahead for when they will be together in the spring - a good example of being patient. Yuka's older brother Kenta is not very kind to her, but she is determined to be good big sister to the new baby. She plans to read to him in the spring, too.

This would be a great story to read to a child who has their own favorite books and will appreciate Yuka's love of her fairy tales. It is also a good book for a child dealing with a new baby in the family; it will help them see that parents will not always be too busy for special time with them.

Yuka, a first grader, loves when her mom spends time with her and reads her books out loud. When her baby brother arrives in their home her mom is too busy looking after him to read to her daughter.

Yuka feels abandoned and sad because she loved those special reading times with her mother. One day Yuka takes her favourite book and while sitting in the forest alone reading her book out loud, a squirrel, a rabbit, a fox, a raccoon, and more animals quietly come to listen to her read. They love listening to her read and ask for more. As she continues and becomes more confident she discovers that reading out loud is very powerful and enjoyable. She gets ideas for creating a story just for her forest friends.

The story is a wonderful way to spark a conversation about a new arrival in a family and the feelings surrounding that special event. The warm illustrations are simple and engaging. The story wraps up on a happy note as Yuka looks forward to Spring and reading aloud to her sweet baby brother.

Young readers will be encouraged to read aloud and also to create their own stories. This wonderful book includes Japanese folktales and other folk and fairy tales from around the world. It is a lovely book about friendship and self-esteem. I highly recommend it.

This book was super cute and the art is amazing. The kids really enjoyed the story and helping me make all the sounds the animals made. We did just learn this was a series and they want me to go back and find the first two books!

I love this book and this series. This about the importance of storytelling and it talks to adult and child.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher for this arc, all opinions are mine

The benefits and delights of a good story well told, as a young fan of fairy tales and folk stories starts to read them out loud – and finds an audience of diverse animals enjoying her narratives. Artwork heavy on the childishness doesn't make this as pretty as I think it should be, but the story itself is a wonderful love letter to story-telling, cleverly bringing issues of representation and suchlike into a book that probably didn't have such concerns when first published in Japanese ten years ago. The fact it took a whole decade to appear in translation really seems quite illogical with the quality here – a strong four stars.

ARC Copy...it was cute and warm. Text and prose density it felt closer to an early reader but still a warm atmosphere (visuals help too) and slight environmental message of bonding with nature (over/with a good story)

This book didn't keep my younger nephews (3) attention, but I enjoyed it all the same. A young girl becomes a big sister and she is adjusting to not having all of her moms attention. Yuka just wants someone to read to her, but everyone is too busy. So she finds a quiet place and reads out loud to herself, before she knows it age has an audience! All the animals that live near Jace come to listen to Yuka's stories.

Yuka is a little girl in first grade. She can read, but enjoys hearing her mother read even more. When her new baby brother arrives, her mother is very busy, so Yuka goes looking for someone to read to her. Nobody is available.

When she gets to a vacant lot that has become overgrown into a small forest, Yuka reads aloud and soon notices animals gathering around her. They have never heard such wonderful stories before! They love her voice and appreciate her kindness; they ask her to come again soon!

Yuka no longer feels lonely, she enjoys her time in the forest, and one of her stories helps the animals save their home.

This book includes summaries of some Japanese folk tales as well as more famous fairytales that most people will recognize. Yuka is a sweet girl who wants to help each animal feel included and happy, and she works hard to find a logical solution. I especially appreciate this part!

Two Points:
1. I didn't like Yuka's older brother, Kento, who is mean to her and says it's okay because he's 3 years older. (I recall having similar experiences with older brothers.) The book makes a point of explaining that Yuka is determined not to act that way with her little brother.

2. Yuka goes inside a neighbor's house without permission from her parent (as far as we know), and that's not a good idea.

Aside from those two points, I enjoyed the story, and look forward to more from this author!

4.4/5 Stars

Thanks to Museyon Publishing and NetGalley for the temporary digital preview of this children's picture book; any review is voluntary and completely my own opinion.

#TellMeaStoryPlease #NetGalley
#MuseyonPublishing
#ForestFriendsSeries
#KyokoHara #KyokoHaraAuth
#KazueTakahashi #KazueTakahashiIllus
#ChildrensCityLifeBooks
#ChildrensFolkTalesandMythsBooks
#FictionBirthofaBaby
#FictionNewBabyintheFamily
#FictionFamilyDynamics
#FictionAdaptingtoFamilyChanges
#FictionFamilyinJapan
#FictionReadingAloudtoForestAnimals
#FictionAnimalsSaveTheirForestHome
#FictionMiddleChild
#ParentingandFamilies

I thought that this book was excellent

It was very easy to read and follow and it had a lovely flow to the story

I read the book with my five-year-old daughter and she loved it

The illustrations are quite simple but work really well with the story to bring it to life

As a mum I thought that it was a great book too and the end was one that made me smile

It is 5 stars from me for this one, very highly recommended!

Sweet story of a girl, Yuku, reading to herself, because her mother is too busy to do so, with a new baby brother. The girl goes to the nearby woods, and there the animals listen and enjoy her stories.

She reads them several stories, and they all love it, tell her what a wonderful voice she has, and ask for more.

Then she reads them the Bremen Town Musicians, but with the local wildlife, so they could all be a part of the story. The famous bit is when the animals scare off the burglars.

And this comes to good use when some local people want to tear up the woods, and put in an apartment complex. The local animals all climb on top of each other to scare them away.

Cute story of a girl gaining confidence by reading aloud, and of the animals for saving their home.

<em>Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.</em>

This was a pleasant read!

Yuka is very excited to welcome her new baby brother into the family, but she soon begins to feel that her mom doesn’t have enough time for her anymore. For as long as she can remember, her mom would read to her every day so it’s hard for Yuka to not feel a bit sad.

One day she goes into the forest to find a comfortable spot against a tree to read aloud to herself. As she reads she notices a small squirrel watching her from a tree, followed shortly by a small rabbit hopping up to listen in. Soon enough, Yuka has a full audience of forest animals, all excited to listen to her read. When she finishes all the animals applaud and beg her to come back and tell more stories, and each one wants a story with them in it! So she decides to rewrite one of her favorites to include all the animals.

Tell Me a Story, Please does a wonderful job of depicting some of the more negative feelings that welcoming a new sibling into the family can bring.

Thank you to Netgalley and Museyon for the opportunity to read and review this title.

Tell Me a Story, Please is a lovely story. It is part of The Forest Friends series which are all delightful with cute illustrations to accompany them.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

I received a free copy of, Tell Me a Story, Please, by Kyoko Hara, from the publisher and Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Yuka loves to read, and be read to, but everyone is to busy, so Yuka goes to the forest, surprisingly the animals, love when Yuka reads to them. Such a delightful story, I really enjoyed the illustrations too.

This was an adorable story!

It's about a little girl named Yuka who loves listening to her Mum read storybooks. But when her baby brother is born, she feels left out because her Mum is busy with him. The story goes on about how she tries to find someone who'll read to her and how she'll make new friends.

I honestly loved the book. Initially, I felt the story was a bit slow, but around the 40% mark it picked up the pace.

It deals with a few topics all kids go through - wanting someone to read stories with, being ignored by older siblings, Mum's attention being split when a new baby is born, making friends, teamwork, and the importance of books of course.

Overall, it was a lovely read! Beautiful cover too.