So in this article I will introduce several Japanese book series that are easier to read for beginners, such as the picture book series, the manga series with a life story, and novels for elementary school students. I liked the book so much that I read the next six sequels within a few months. Although I was at level 44 WaniKani when I first read Zenitendo, it was still my first attempt at reading aboriginal texts. For this article, we asked other Japanese language learners what book they would recommend to someone who has reached level 10-20 in JLPT N4 and WaniKani in terms of vocabulary and grammar. If you want to read comfortably and enjoy the story without worrying too much about vocabulary, it seems like a good time to start a book when you are close to level 20 in WaniKani. Plus, you’ll have a different breed of dog to help you each time, and you’ll learn about it, too! にゃんにゃん探偵団 is a spin-off series わんわん探偵団 in which Spitz’s love at first sight Kawaii, owner of the Hanae children’s bookstore, solves mysterious incidents in town along with his cat. If you decide to get your first book in Japanese, we recommend searching and using available resources such as glossaries and discussion forums. The movie is based on the first book, but there are actually five more books in the series that continue to follow Kiki’s life. Our kanji learning app, WaniKani, has a large community of Japanese students and offers book club classes. Some students who have read the よつばと! series find the first volume the hardest. So once you understand the basic framework of the story, it’s a good idea to skip a chapter if you find it too difficult. Now that you have a good base of vocabulary and grammar, consider trying more authentic Japanese books, books that a native Japanese person would want to read. Finally, before I get to the book recommendations, I would like to thank our Japanese colleagues, members of the WaniKani community. It has the least amount of furigana of all the books on this list, but even if you’re at WaniKani level 10, you’ll be surprised at how many kanji you learn in this book. にゃんんにゃん偵団 was the first book I read in Japanese! I read it shortly after I passed N4 TFPJ. I recommend it because many Japanese students are inspired by Studio Ghibli, and it will help newcomers learn how to read their first book.