In one part of the book I'm reading, in reference to a bath full of soapy bubbles, the word 泡 is used without furigana. In a later chapter, the word is used again in the context of someone trying to speak underwater and producing only bubbles, but this time the furigana あぶく is attached. Is this furigana supposed to help children who might not know the kanji 泡 (and its absence in the earlier chapter an oversight or inconsistency), or is it to show that the pronunciation should be あぶく and not あわ? If the latter, why? I gather that あぶく is less formal, but there is no apparent difference in the level of formality of the two contexts.
It may be that this is unimportant, but I do find the use of furigana in this book quite haphazard and inconsistent, and I wonder sometimes if I am missing some nuances that it expresses.
It may be that this is unimportant, but I do find the use of furigana in this book quite haphazard and inconsistent, and I wonder sometimes if I am missing some nuances that it expresses.