The Big Bath House

by Kyo Maclear (Author) Gracey Zhang (Illustrator)

Reading Level: 2nd − 3rd Grade

A joyful celebration of Japanese cultural traditions and body positivity as a young girl visits a bath house with her grandmother and aunties

You'll walk down the street / Your aunties sounding like clip-clopping horses / geta-geta-geta / in their wooden sandals / Until you arrive... / At the bath house / The big bath house.

In this celebration of Japanese culture and family and naked bodies of all shapes and sizes, join a little girl--along with her aunties and grandmother--at a traditional bath house. Once there, the rituals leading up to the baths begin: hair washing, back scrubbing, and, finally, the wood barrel drumroll. Until, at last, it's time, and they ease their bodies--their creased bodies, newly sprouting bodies, saggy, jiggly bodies--into the bath. Ahhhhhh!

With a lyrical text and gorgeous illustrations, this picture book is based on Kyo Maclear's loving memories of childhood visits to Japan, and is an ode to the ties that bind generations of women together.

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Hardcover
$17.99

Publishers Weekly

Starred Review

Maclear (It Began with a Page) remembers with affection the local bathhouse her Baachan took her to during childhood visits to Japan. In bold black ink and wash drawings, Zhang (Lala's Words) captures the girl's arrival and the slow walk through the neighborhood as the child, her grandmother, and her aunties (who have "big stories and bigger purses") stroll along in yukata, enter the bathhouse, and wash ("the aunties scrub each other's backs"). Then everyone soaks in the hot water together, "a chorus of one long breath:// Ahhhhh." Against a tile backdrop, dazzling candid portraits capture groups of nude girls and women of various ages, shapes, and skin tones sharing the big communal pool: "You'll all dip your bodies,/ your newly sprouting,/ gangly bodies,/ your saggy, shapely,/ jiggly bodies,// your cozy, creased,/ ancient bodies./ Beautiful bodies." Maclear and Zhang portray with great warmth the nourishment offered by this cultural institution, making clear to readers the ritual's cozy, home-away-from-home feeling. In this treasured familial memory grounded in a specific place, tender nakedness resolves into an undressing of both emotional and physical selves: "You'll reach for Baachan's hand, and she'll reach for yours./ And it'll be understood." An author's note discusses the book's origins. Ages 4-8. Author's agent: Jackie Kaiser, Westwood Creative Artists. Illustrator's agent: Hannah Mann, Writers House. (Nov.)

Copyright 2021 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

School Library Journal

Gr 3-5--A young Japanese girl visits her baachan, or grandmother, and enjoys the shared experience of the big bath house, the community bathing spot. The narrator remarks on the feeling of seeing women comfortable in their bodies and empowered in this moment. An end note conveys the autobiographical nature of the story and how it shaped the author's view of women's bodies and celebratory way of being. This story exudes freedom and joy, which children will appreciate. The illustrations are colorful in their depictions of Japanese clothing, settings, and culture, and will invite children into discussions. The nudity is developmentally appropriate for mid-elementary students, though the book may be more suitable for family or one-on-one sharing than classroom use. VERDICT This is a warm celebration of a particular aspect of culture that may still be unfamiliar to some children, and which skillfully incorporates Japanese words and phrases.--Tracey Hodges, Univ. of Alabama, Northport, AL

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Review quotes

★ A must-have celebration of cultural understanding and community—and the joy of family. —Kirkus Reviews, starred review

★ Maclear and Zhang portray with great warmth the nourishment offered by this cultural institution, making clear to readers the ritual's cozy, home-away-from-home feeling. Publishers Weekly, starred review

★ ...a warm and tender story of time with beloved distant family." The Bulletin, starred review

★ Zhang's bouyant illustrations in ink, gouache, and watercolors match the water-focused story with transparent, watery hues anchored by strong black outlining. —The Horn Book, starred review
Kyo Maclear
Kyo Maclear (kyō 京 means "capital city" in Japanese) was born in London and spent her childhood summers in Tokyo. She now lives with her family in Toronto (originating from the Mohawk word "Tkaranto") where she writes books for all ages and dreams of big, beautiful cities created by--and for--everybody.

Francesca Sanna grew up in Cagliari, a small, sunny city by the sea on the island of Sardinia, and currently lives in Zurich, a bigger, cloudy city by the mountains. Before becoming an illustrator, she received her bachelor's degree in architecture. She learned that cities are made by people and that people are made by the cities they live in, which is how she came to love to draw, visit, and live in cities.
Classification
Fiction
ISBN-13
9780593181959
Lexile Measure
-
Guided Reading Level
-
Publisher
Random House Studio
Publication date
November 16, 2021
Series
-
BISAC categories
JUV013030 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Multigenerational
JUV039140 - Juvenile Fiction | Social Themes | Self-Esteem & Self-Reliance
JUV011020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | United States - Asian American
Library of Congress categories
Family life
Japan
Racially mixed people
Bathhouses
ALSC Notable Children's Book
Selection 2022

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