Yotsuba Koiwai is a little girl with green hair. Nobody knows where she comes from exactly, but it is "way over there." She lives with her adopted father and the pair of them have just moved house with the aid of their giant friend Jumbo. They instantly discover that they get on really well with the neighbors, three girls called Agasi, Fuuka and Ena. But everybody who meets Yotsuba is going to learn quickly that there is something very, very strange about her...

The stories in this book (divided into seven separate chapters) all revolve around the simple—but somehow endlessly delightful—concept that wherever Yotsuba comes from it is nothing like modern Japan, or anywhere else on Earth. Whatever she sees, whether it is a playground swing, cicada, television or even the neighbors, it is apparent that she has never encountered anything like it before. Yotsuba also possesses the enviable talent for enjoying absolutely everything. Telling the story in just print would lose much of the joyous exuberance exhibited in every picture of Yotsuba when she encounters something new, and they give it a vigor that would be lost with an ordinary book. There is also something totally manga about this series, not merely the way it is told, that would make an excellent introduction to the genre for anybody who has not yet discovered the joy of manga. You just cannot help smiling when you read this!