Kiki's Delivery Service

Kiki's Delivery Service

Hardcover - Japan - 1st edition.

Author Eiko Kadono Published 1985-01-25 Type Fiction Genre Adventure Themes Adventure, Coming of age, Fantasy, Teen, Witchcraft Age Group Children

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.

Personal

Own?	No.
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:

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

• 

  Hardcover - Japan - 1985 - Fukuotokan - 1st edition.

• 

  Paperback - Japan - 2002 - Fukuotokan.

• 

  Paperback - USA - 2003 - Annick Press - Lynne Riggs translation.

• 

  Paperback - USA - 2021 - Yearling - Emily Balistrieri translation.

• 

  Paperback - Australia - 2022 - Puffin.

• 

  Hardcover - Australia - 2025 - Puffin.

Representation

Strong female character?	Pass	Kiki shows courage and grows throughout the story.
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