2.5*
This is a feel-good tale about a cute little bear that "travels" in his daydreams. It is told by a friend of his who receives letters from Kuma-Kuma Chan about his adventures, but they are so sloppily written that he can't read them and can only imagine about his friend's travels.

A daydream within a daydream, it's Bearception.

I have mixed feelings about this book. I think it was probably a lot better before it was translated. The English translation could use a rewrite I think because the phrasing just sounds off. It's like if google translate, translated a book and everything sounded very literal and strange. I received an e-book copy from the publisher and the formatting is absolutely terrible. The image resolution was bad, words are all over the place, at least one image I know of was missing, 4 pages in a row were the same image, and it was in Japanese so I can only guess what it said on those pages. I'm sure the physical version is better, I wish I could have seen that instead. So, keep that in mind that the readability has affected my overall scoring. This is like reviewing a book based on an abstract painting made to represent it. I'd give my copy of this book 2 stars.

It's a cute book but the art isn't out of this world or anything. The edges of things aren't well defined and the colors are few and muted so I don't know if children will understand or enjoy the images as much. I heard this bear is popular in Japan and I don't see it, it's a little weird looking with odd proportions and soft undefined edges. A blob with fingers. I didn't really understand the story or rather the purpose of it. It's fun in the sense that it is about imagination but I don't know if the randomness and simplicity of the story will hold young readers attention. I think reading it requires too much imagination and bonus discussion to make it fun. 

Review to be posted 6-3

This is cute. I feel like something was lost in translation though. I loved the art and the general idea but feel like it is lacking in content to keep kids entertained.

This is a great sweet little book for travelers. I saw it in an indie bookshop someday, and it was first published in Japan by Popular. The format of the book is immediately attracting me, adorable, cute. I could totally imagine people in Japan love this book, and how they cherish one the most important resources on earth-paper. It is a little book that I would carry when I am traveling, read and read again, and smile, and travels on.

The book is about the Kuma-Kuma Chan's day dream, and how he write about his travel. It is great since it counts part of daily life as some kind of travel, which is both soothing and relaxing for people who do not have a chance to travel literary. The message at the end of the book is so sweet, and encouraging. The illustrations are done with pastel like colors, with a very minimalist style, yet still you can feel the asian vibe inside, so Japan! and I totally love it. In some pages, like the Kuma-Chan and bird page, the perspective is not the optimal. Otherwise it is a great book.

I received this book as an exchange of honest review.

Kuma-Kuma Chan is apparently a pretty popular little character in Japan. He reminds me a bit of Kipper in the sense that the story is gentle and soothing and not too very much actually happens. The illustrations are a bit simpler. I wasn't entirely sure how to review this, so I enlisted the help of a child. I brought my 6 year old over to review this and she thought it was very cute and liked it.

It's a bit simple for adult tastes at least as translated. You have the feeling that there was a bit more to it in the original language, but, even so it's nice to have the cultural experience of getting to enjoy something that is popular in another country.

I would recommend this for young children possibly ages 2-4. .

Kuma-Kuma Chan’s Travels sounds like it is going to be an adventure book. However Kuma-Kuma Chan is a bear that knows how to relax and enjoy the place he is in. This simple book will show children how to do the same. The illustrations are wistful and calming and fit in with the story nicely. I enjoyed this book and its calming quality.

This is the third book in the Kuma-Kuma Chan series and this is another adorable entry. All about Kuma's travels and adventures in his dreams and imagination. Written in a soft, lilting tone, this will make an ideal bedtime story. The art is so ethereal in its faint watercolours.

Kuma-Kuma Chan books always have a strange quality to them. They're cute and easy enough for children to read, but there's a unique quality to them for adults to enjoy. The illustrations are soft, kind of weird, but just enjoyable enough to look at. There's no sense of perspective and Kuma-Kuma Chan looks bigger than a tree sometimes, but it's really ok. That's part of the charm of these books.

A translated book about a bear's travels. The travels are imaginary and it encourages children to imagine

A lovely story of a bear and his travels. Most of his travels are done with two feet on the same ground they trod everyday, but he uses his words, his dreams, and his imagination to travel to all sorts of places.

Kuma-Kuma Chan's Travels is a sweet little book aimed at a younger audience (probably 6 or 7 and younger). Immediately when starting this book, you are drifting off in your imagination with Kuma-Kuma. We travel to all kinds of different places and 'see' what Kuma-Kuma sees while there. The writing is simple and easy to understand. The illustrations are cute and relate perfectly to the story. You can control the speed of the book by elaborating on the imagination aspect, or you can zip through it using just the story at hand. It's a great versatile book that will be read again and again.

I love the Kuma-Kuma books and recommend them to anyone that's interested in expanding not only their Library....but their imagination as well.

This is cute book for kids I would say about 6 on down it is short and uses the imagination of Kuma-Kuma and the places he can visit.
With this story A and I imagination on what we would see if we would Kuma-Kuma. Overall a decent read for little ones. I did notice the price of this ebook and honestly it would be a price I wouldn't spend.

This is the third book in the Kuma-Kuma Chan series. It has a wide fan base in Japan, especially appealing to young women, and is now spreading its wings to be enjoyed across Asia, Europe and North America.

Kuma-Kuma Chan is a sweet adorable little bear (kuma means "bear" in Japanese) who lives all alone in the mountains. Because of his isolation he loves to travel and explore the world ... well in his mind anyway.

He envisions flying off to to a warm island where he can lay in the sun and nap... well in his head anyway. He dreams of climbing to the top of a high mountain and watching the spectacular sunrise while sipping a cup of fresh-brewed coffee... well in his writing anyway. He flies up in the sky like a bird, time-travels back to before he was born to find out what animal he was in his previous life... but only in his creative mind. His travel fantasies soothe and comfort him.

He is free to explore, visit and savour his trips to anywhere his psyche leads him. He documents his various itineraries and sends them to his friend, who is narrating his story in messy, illegible handwriting, which frustrates the receiver. Kuma-Kuma Chan's scribbled notes leaves the boy's own imagination open to interpret the little bear's travelling adventures.

The friendly boy wishes him well wherever and whatever the little guy is up to and hopes one day to see his buddy one more time.


The text is simple, the illustrations are soft, muted and uncluttered. The mood is calm and peaceful. The book encourages readers to explore their own imaginations and follow where their creative thinking takes them. I highly recommend this book and the other books in the series.

This is the cute story of a cute bear who travels, or does he.

What I loved about this, the third in the series of Kumma-Kumma Chan, is that he pretends to travel.

He thinks about laying on a beach in the sunshine. He thinks it would be nice to get up at dawn and watch a sunrise at the top of a mountain, but doesn't do so. He imagines it would be nice to fly, but never gets off the ground.

The funniest thing is that the bear writes to the narrator about these travels that he isn't taking, but the narrator says he can't read what Kuma writes, because he gets excited, and is sloppy, so he has to make up what he thinks the bear is writing about.

I think kids will love the idea of a bear that makes up his travels. And the last bit, about listening to the stars was quite sweet.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review.

Kuma Chan Chan likes to daydream about travelling and adventures. In this short and sweet book we learn of his dreams.

This is a simply illustrated book that would be ideal to be read to a toddler or as an early reading book for a slightly older child. It encourages kids to use their imaginations and daydream a little which in my humble opinion is no bad thing! A little young for my daughter (she's six) but she enjoyed reading this.

This picture book has pastel graphics that are understated but work real well with the story line. I enjoy their simplicity.

Museyon and Net Galley allowed me to read this book for review (thank you). It is being published today.

Kuma-Kuma travels a lot. Usually in his mind but he sees wonderful things and has fun on his trips. I grew up in the country and stayed home by myself a lot until my brother was born, so I learned to have trips in my mind, too.

He even listens to the stars and watches the birds fly for hints. When his mind isn't fertile enough for new adventures, he lays on his roof and watches the clouds and the birds and communes with nature.

For not having many friends around, he has a good time. He's even learning to write his own tales...

Those who have read Kuma-Kuma Chan's Home will be familiar with the spare style of the illustrations. There are only one or two sentences on each spread and plenty of white space. And there are only two characters, the narrator and Kuma-Kuma Chan (the little bear). The same narrator is talking to us in this book; this time he tells us about the travels of his bear friend. It seems that Kuma-Kuma Chan enjoys traveling, or at least thinking of travel. He daydreams of tropical beaches, or watches the birds and thinks of flying. Sometimes he even climbs to the roof of his house and lies back to watch the clouds and the stars. He writes about his travels and his friend the narrator receives the notes, but they are messy and hard to read.

Anyone who has ever dreamed of far-off places or of visiting a time other than their own will recognize a kindred soul in Kuma-Kuma Chan. Even the part where he gets upset and then has to take a nap will sound familiar. This is a wonderful story for talking about the power of imagination and the dreams that we each have for adventure and something out of the ordinary. Young readers will enjoy seeing all the supplies that Kuma-Kuma Chan packs for his travels, although they may want to have some juice in their Thermos rather than coffee.

Perfect for preschool and early elementary children.

I love the softness to the illustrations. This is a delightful story that has humorous moments too. I would thoroughly enjoy reading this with my son.

Super cute story with soft illustrations that has tons of story time potential. Plenty of opportunity for little ones to use their imagination.

A cute, little, picture book for E level readers and to be read to.

Kuma-Kuma Chan uses his imagination to travel, and a narrator describes his travels to the read.

Pros: the illustrations are cute; Kuma-Kuma Chan is an adorable little character; the message of using your imagination is great.

Cons: There's a section in the middle where Kuma-Kuma Chan gets upset and rolls around on the ground and then calms down and takes a nap; that section doesn't seem to fit with the rest of the book and disrupts the flow of it. The ending, where Kuma-Kuma Chan sends the narrator his travel notes but the narrator can't read them so he just has to imagine things just doesn't quite work for me.

Overall, it's a cute book and I think kids will like it.