Rumi Hara's Nori is a collection of stories of a toddler named Noriko growing up in Osaka in the 1980s, and her grandmother, who takes care of her while her parents work full-time. The illustrations are lovely, with simple, soothing color palettes. The stories attempt to inject a young child's flights of imagination into everyday events, such as Nori's fantasy of talking to various animals she encounters. The underlying dynamic that makes this more than a kid's book is the absence of Nori's parents and the deep, loving bond between her and her grandmother. It's very sweet and pleasant to read, but I found myself wanting more depth to the characters than perhaps was possible while staying faithful to the point-of-view of a four-year-old.