Each chapter has challenging review exercises for self-study. There is also a Grand Final Test of American Idioms & Slang Expressions, plus an answer key at the back of the book.

For general readers interested in Japan who have a basic grounding in Japanese language, it offers a comic window on contemporary culture. The combination of puns, jokes, 'nazo nazo' (riddles) and humorous characters in the stories makes for an entertaining as well as educational reading experience. A fun resource to use to surprise your Japanese friends with an original, off-the-wall 'jodan'.

Excellent!


The King of Puns   October 6, 2003
Puns might be considered a "low" form of humor, but this is the exactly the kind of humor our students can process. Cool Comic Stories is the champion of such humor, and is sure to get your class laughing. Almost every page has Japanese English puns unlike any you will see anywhere else. In my opinion Cool has the best use of humor in an ESL reading text since the L. A. Hill's "Anecdotes in American English." It is not as flashy as other texts on the market, but don't let the simple layout fool you. This book is full of charm and wit.