Hiragana mini books
To the teacher
This collection of Hiragana mini books has been created to support the teaching and learning of hiragana. The first five series made up of five series each containing nine books, comprising 45 books in total. Further four series were released in 2024 covering voiced (dakuon/handakuon) eg. ば、ぱ, double consonants (sokuon) eg. たって, consonants + vowel (yoon) eg. きゃ、きゅ、きょ and a particle は.
Throughout the series, each book introduces a single hiragana character at a time, allowing students to build up their hiragana knowledge as they read through the collection. The Hiragana mini books make reading enjoyable, enabling students to become fluent and confident readers.
Each book comprises an eight-page short story dealing with familiar situations and responses that are lively and relatable. Supported by colourful illustrations, each story has an interesting twist at the end to keep students entertained.
The Hiragana mini books allow students to effortlessly learn hiragana script in context through frequent reading.
How to use the resource
Each series comprises four sections, listed below:
- Digital Flip Books
- Printable Colour Version (PDF) for creating books
- Printable Blackline Masters (PDF) for colouring
- Table of Contents
Click on the purple buttons below the cover page pictures to explore the resources. Newly introduced characters appear in red on the cover page. Please follow the instructions on how to print the printable version (PDF) here.
How to create mini books
Step 1
Download the PDF file and save it as Adobe Acrobat Document onto your desktop.
Click here for printing instructions
Step 2
Fold the paper down the middle along the red line as shown below.
Step 3
Cut the paper as shown along the red dotted line.
Step 4
- Fold along each line as shown below to prepare for final gluing.
- Glue the backs of Pages 7 and 8 and Pages 3 and 4 together.
Step 5
Glue the backs of Pages 1 and 2 and Pages 3 and 4 to create the book.
Related resources for teaching hiragana
・Hiragana Memory Hint Flashcards https://classroomresources.sydney.jpf.go.jp/resources/hiragana-memory-hint-flashcards/
・Hiragana Memory Hint Worksheets https://classroomresources.sydney.jpf.go.jp/resources/hiragana-memory-hint-worksheets/
The Hiragana mini books collection were created by Himiko Negishi-Wood, with assistance from Christy Kun (series1-3) & Natsumi Yajima (series4-9) for layout and design. Illustration by Kahori (https://kahori.cc/). (updated February 2025)
