Kiki's Delivery Service
Kiki's Delivery Service | ||||||||||||
Hardcover - Japan - 1st edition. |
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Kiki's Delivery Service is a children's novel by Eiko Kadono written in Japanese and first published 1985-01-25. It is the first book in the Kiki's Delivery Service series and is followed up by Kiki's Delivery Service 2: Kiki and Her New Magic. An English translation by Lynne Riggs was published in the USA in February 2003, and another translation by Emily Balistrieri was published in 2020. It is better known by it's 1989 animated film adaption of the same title.
The book is about a 13-year-old girl named Kiki who is a witch in training. She has to fly on her broom away from her home and start a new life with her black cat Jiji in a new city as is the custom of witches.
Contents
Personal
Own? | No. |
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Read? | Paperback - USA - 2021 - Yearling. Emily Balistrieri translation. |
Finished | 2025-06-06. |
After getting my daughters hooked on the film adaption, I bought them the book for Christmas. Curious about what the original book was like, I read it myself.
Review
Overall: |
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Good
- The book has a nice wholesomeness about it which is often lacking from children's stories. Kiki isn't trying to defeat a villain, date a boy, or overcome some shameful defect, she's just living her life as a 13-year-old girl.
- Kiki's inexperience with social conventions and desire to learn more is a nice arc. And her being timid, jealous, and nosy fits her youth.
- I like how, once Kiki is on her own, she misses her mother and wishes she had paid more attention when she tried to impart her wisdom.
- The 2021 paperback edition I read used black cat dingbats as section separators, which was a nice touch.
Bad
- Aside from Kiki striking out on her own for a year, the book is mostly a series of unrelated minor events, none of which come to fruition. This made it a bit dull, like you were reading a book about an actual delivery driver describing their job.
- None of the side characters are given much depth and mostly only exist in the chapter they're in.
- The chapter about belly bands was too silly for me.
- At the beginning of the book, we're told that witches are losing their powers, but nothing ever comes from this.
- Throughout most of the book, I kept thinking, "the film did it better." Pretty much all of my favorite moments from the film aren't in the book at all, and the few shared events are more drawn out and less punchy in the book.
Ugly
- Nothing.
Media
Covers
Representation
Strong female character? | Pass | Kiki shows courage and grows throughout the story. |
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Bechdel test? | Pass | Kiki talks to her mother, Osono, and several other women about a variety of topics. |
Strong person of color character? | Pass | Everyone in the story is Japanese. |
Queer character? | Fail | There are no queer characters. |
Adaptions
The book has been translated into nine languages (twice in English) and has seven sequels. The book was adapted into a animated film in 1989 and a live action film in 2014.
Links
- Books
- Books Published in 1985
- Children Books
- Books written by Eiko Kadono
- Fiction
- Book Genre - Adventure
- Media Theme - Adventure
- Media Theme - Coming of age
- Media Theme - Fantasy
- Media Theme - Teen
- Media Theme - Witchcraft
- Books I Don't Own
- Books I've Read
- Books Rated - 5
- Books with a strong female character
- Books that pass the Bechdel test
- Books with a strong person of color character
- Books without a queer character