English language
Published July 19, 1996
Totto-chan, the Little Girl at the Window is an autobiographical memoir written by Japanese television personality and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Tetsuko Kuroyanagi. The book was published originally as 窓ぎわのトットちゃん (Madogiwa no Totto-chan) in 1981, and became an "instant bestseller" in Japan. The book is about the values of the unconventional education that Kuroyanagi received during World War II at Tomoe Gakuen, a Tokyo elementary school founded by educator Sosaku Kobayashi.The Japanese name of the book is an expression used to describe people who have failed.