Cover Image

The big bath house

by Maclear, Kyo, 1970-

Format: Print Book 2021
Availability: Available at 7 Libraries 7 of 8 copies

Available (7)
Location Collection Call #
Andrew Carnegie Free Library Juvenile Easy E MACLEAR
Location  Andrew Carnegie Free Library
 
Collection  Juvenile Easy
 
Call Number  E MACLEAR
 
 
CLP - Main Library First Floor Children's Department - Picture Books j FICTION Maclear
Location  CLP - Main Library
 
Collection  First Floor Children's Department - Picture Books
 
Call Number  j FICTION Maclear
 
 
Carnegie Library of Homestead Juvenile Picture Book J PIC Macl
Location  Carnegie Library of Homestead
 
Collection  Juvenile Picture Book
 
Call Number  J PIC Macl
 
 
Mt. Lebanon Public Library Children's Picture Books j Ea MACLEAR Kyo
Location  Mt. Lebanon Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Picture Books
 
Call Number  j Ea MACLEAR Kyo
 
 
Northern Tier Regional Library Picture Book J PB MACLE
Location  Northern Tier Regional Library
 
Collection  Picture Book
 
Call Number  J PB MACLE
 
 
Oakmont Carnegie Library Easy Fiction E MACL
Location  Oakmont Carnegie Library
 
Collection  Easy Fiction
 
Call Number  E MACL
 
 
Scott Township Library Picture Books E MACLEA
Location  Scott Township Library
 
Collection  Picture Books
 
Call Number  E MACLEA
 
 
 
Unavailable (1)
Location Collection Status
Northland Public Library Children's Picture Books CHECKED OUT
Location  Northland Public Library
 
Collection  Children's Picture Books
 
Status  CHECKED OUT
 
 

Summary
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.
Published Reviews
Booklist Review: "Maclear draws from loving memories of her summers as a little girl at her grandmother's house in Japan: each year, along with her aunties, they would go to the neighborhood bath house and enjoy long soaks. Even though they did not all share a common language, the women would find community and bond, especially at the bath house. Bodies of all shapes, sizes, and ages are depicted and celebrated, and the Japanese cultural tradition of bath houses is shared lovingly and joyously. The gorgeous illustrations feature delicately colored earth tones inside beautiful, loosely drawn, dark outlines. As captured by the closed eyes and gleeful expressions of the bathers, along with their "chorus of one long breath: Ahhhhh," the relaxation and delight experienced by all in partaking in the bath house is evident. Lyrical language featuring occasional rhymes in a second-person narration guide young readers along themes of family and body positivity. A brief glossary and author's note further promote cultural understanding in this stunning and welcoming addition."
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Publisher's Weekly 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.)"
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Additional Information
Subjects Bathhouses -- Juvenile fiction.
Families -- Japan -- Juvenile fiction.
Racially mixed people -- Juvenile fiction.
Family life -- Japan -- Fiction.
Racially mixed people -- Fiction.
Japan -- Juvenile fiction.
Japan -- Fiction.
Publisher New York :Random House Studio,2021
Edition First edition.
Contributors Zhang, Gracey, illustrator.
Audience Ages 4-8, Grades K-1.
Language English
Description 1 volume (unpaged) : color illustrations ; 26 x 27 cm
ISBN 9780593181959
0593181956
9780593181966
0593181964
Other Classic View