I LOVE THIS BOOK! Not only does it offer such cute illustrations and information from the movie, but it's also really easy to follow and use. The step by step pictures really set it apart from cookbooks of the same kind. Viz, please make one for every Ghibli movie!

This book is very cute and definitely geared toward younger audiences. The book has illustrations and pictures from the movie as well as trivia and fun facts that shares a lot of info that fans might not know about some of the finer points and history of the film. However, my main concern is that the recipes in this cook book are not very accessible for a Western audience.

I currently live in Japan and it seems like the author went to a great length to make sure the recipes are accurate, but almost all of the recipes require ingredients you would be hard-pressed to find in the average American grocery store. Dashi, kombu, adzuki beans, etc etc, are going to be hard to find. This cookbook might have been more sucessful for Western audiences if the author had included substitutions, or additional recipes "inspired by" the movie that were less accurate but also more accessible for the West. But, at the end of the day this is an English translation of a Japanese cookbook for Japanese audiences based on a Japanese movie... so it kinda is what it is.

For that reason, I'm not sure if this is a successful cookbook, even though it is very cute.