A witness picture book

For 54 years, Sister Emily Takaoka carried out her apostolate in two nursery schools in Futaba, Japan. During these years, her priority was to listen to the children in order to understand what was in their hearts and minds. In early 2025, this lifelong commitment became a picture book...

‘Dandelion Kindergarten’ is the title of this small 15 x 10.5 cm book. Sister Emily explains: ‘Six years had passed since I retired after many years of apostolate in the service of young children. One day, Mrs A, who went to Futaba Nursery School, phoned me: ‘I'd like to make a picture book about what you taught us at nursery school. Could you write a text for me, please? ‘A picture book,’ I exclaimed, surprised because it was such an unexpected request. Although I tried to dissuade her by saying: ‘It's too big a project, it's not for me...’, she didn't give up and, determined, continued: ‘I just can't wait to read your text, sister.’

Childhood,  a  primordial stage

Sr Emily believes that childhood is a time when the whole of life's journey is in the making. The nursery school should therefore be a place where children can fully express the different personalities that God has given them and develop their qualities so that they are able to accept the different ideas, behaviour and expressions of their peers. This is what she wanted to express in this book, which finally took her a year to complete, with the help of her former pupil and some of her classmates, until the day in January 2025 when the first edition was published.

‘It was a wonderful experience for me to realise the work that God had done in the hearts of these little children: the holy story that they had heard and gently absorbed like sponges remained engraved in their adult hearts (...) I wanted them to become aware that God is present in their daily lives, at home and at school. I also hoped that they would understand that there are not only joys in life, that there are also sorrows and unpleasant things, but that it all has a meaning. (...) May as many children as possible talk to God and pray to him,’ concludes Sr Emily.