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.
Gracey Zhang is a freelance illustrator and animator. She graduated with her BFA in Illustration from the Rhode Island School of Design. Her first author-illustrator picture book, Lala's Words, will be published in 2021 by Scholastic. Visit her on the web at graceyzhang.com.
I write about picture books for various publications (including 16 years at Seven Impossible Things Before Breakfast).
My @bookpage review of Kyo Maclear's THE BIG BATH HOUSE, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, and some spreads from the book, which features "newly sprouting, gangly bodies ... saggy, shapely, jiggly bodies ... cozy, creased, ancient bodies. Beautiful bodies.” http://blaine.org/sevenimpossiblethings/?p=5461. https://t.co/dCJ1fF6bKa
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ICYMI: THE BIG BATH HOUSE by Kyo Maclear, illustrated by Gracey Zhang, is a must-have picture book that celebrates Japanese cultural traditions and body positivity. https://t.co/Jn96LeVKzB
Highlights from the PW Reviews department, which reviews about 9,000 books per year, tweeted by the editors: reviews, author interviews and profiles.
'The Big Bath House' by Kyo Maclear, illus. by Gracey Zhang. Maclear ('It Began with a Page') remembers with affection the local bathhouse her Baachan took her to during childhood visits to Japan. http://pw-ne.ws/fc9e0 https://t.co/2rsPNM8ixA
★ "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