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The Big Bath House

Author Kyo Maclear
Illustrated by Gracey Zhang
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Hardcover
$17.99 US
RH Childrens Books | Random House Studio
10.5"W x 10.25"H x 0.5"D   | 17 oz | 24 per carton
On sale Nov 16, 2021 | 40 Pages | 978-0-593-18195-9
Age 4-8 years | Preschool - 3
Reading Level: Lexile AD540L
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A joyful celebration of Japanese cultural traditions and body positivity as a young girl visits a bath house with her grandmother and aunties

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY New York Public Library • NPR • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Horn Book • The American Library Association • ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project

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.
  • SELECTION | 2022
    Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices
  • AWARD | 2022
    ALA Notable Children's Book
★ "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

★ “[An] exuberant celebration of family.” —BookPage, starred review
KYO MACLEAR is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries. She is the author of the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), winner of the Trillium Book Award. Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and is on faculty at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
 View titles by Kyo Maclear
Gracey Zhang is a freelance illustrator and animator. She was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and received her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is now based in New York City. View titles by Gracey Zhang

About

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

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY New York Public Library • NPR • Publishers Weekly • Kirkus Reviews • Horn Book • The American Library Association • ALA Rise: A Feminist Book Project

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.

Awards

  • SELECTION | 2022
    Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices
  • AWARD | 2022
    ALA Notable Children's Book

Praise

★ "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

★ “[An] exuberant celebration of family.” —BookPage, starred review

Author

KYO MACLEAR is an award-winning novelist, essayist, and children's author. Her books have been translated into eighteen languages and published in over twenty-five countries. She is the author of the hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017), winner of the Trillium Book Award. Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities and is on faculty at the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
 View titles by Kyo Maclear
Gracey Zhang is a freelance illustrator and animator. She was born and raised in Vancouver, Canada, and received her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. She is now based in New York City. View titles by Gracey Zhang

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