Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews

Family, community, body positivity, and a nice hot bath-ahhhhh!A young international traveler with beige skin and straight dark hair eagerly greets her grandmother at Baachan's home in Japan. Accompanied by gregarious aunties with "big stories and bigger purses," she and Baachan visit the big bath house nearby and engage in a cultural, communal event: the Japanese bath. A soapy shower comes first so the women enter the bath clean. Then the girl joins all kinds of women-old and young, thin and fat-who are naked and thoroughly enjoying the hot water and female companionship. Together, the young girls dance while the women talk in this protected and private (yet public) space. Entering the pool, they all take "a chorus of one long breath. Ahhhhh." Beautifully loose-lined and delicately colored illustrations depict vibrant, earth-toned scenes so soaked with conversation and interaction that, if readers lean close, they might be able to listen in. Various skin tones and body shapes and sizes celebrate a broad spectrum of body diversity. Rhythmic, occasionally rhyming second-person narration invites young readers into the rollicking fun of the bath-house experience. The girl and Baachan understand each other without saying a word-a powerful metaphor for how this book can serve as a cultural bridge between Western and Eastern sensibilities of privacy and body positivity. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A must-have celebration of cultural understanding and community-and the joy of family. (glossary, author's note) (Picture book. 3-7)

ALA Booklist (Mon Feb 06 00:00:00 CST 2023)

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.

Horn Book (Sun Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2021)

A young girl visiting her grandmother in Japan narrates this not-so-traditional bath-time book about a very traditional and ancient Japanese custom. The narrator and her beloved baachan, along with a gaggle of aunties, take a walk to the neighborhood bath house, where they meet up with some smiling young cousins. After removing shoes and clothes, they sit on low stools by water faucets, scrub themselves clean with soap, and rinse off before gently easing themselves into the steaming hot bath with a communal "Ahhhhh." The narrator guides readers through the potentially unfamiliar rituals by clearly describing what will happen; the future tense ("The wooden sandals will be lined up and waiting") also reads like a comforting reminder of what will take place the next time she gets to visit her grandmother. The text mirrors the mood -- quick rhymes describe the excitement of arriving and the fun of soaping up, then longer sentences slow down and quiet as the group walks home in the dark. Zhang's buoyant illustrations in ink, gouache, and watercolors match the water-focused story with transparent, watery hues anchored by strong black outlining. Young audiences will giggle at all the naked bodies in the book, while adults will appreciate the body-positive descriptions: "You'll all dip your bodies, / your newly sprouting, / gangly bodies, / your saggy, shapely, / jiggly bodies, / your cozy, creased, / ancient bodies. / Beautiful bodies." In an appended note, Canadian author Maclear (It Began with a Page, rev. 11/19) describes the childhood summers she spent in Japan, she and her grandmother sharing not a common language but "rituals, a sweet tooth, and a love of bathing." Jennifer M. Brabander

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Family, community, body positivity, and a nice hot bath-ahhhhh!A young international traveler with beige skin and straight dark hair eagerly greets her grandmother at Baachan's home in Japan. Accompanied by gregarious aunties with "big stories and bigger purses," she and Baachan visit the big bath house nearby and engage in a cultural, communal event: the Japanese bath. A soapy shower comes first so the women enter the bath clean. Then the girl joins all kinds of women-old and young, thin and fat-who are naked and thoroughly enjoying the hot water and female companionship. Together, the young girls dance while the women talk in this protected and private (yet public) space. Entering the pool, they all take "a chorus of one long breath. Ahhhhh." Beautifully loose-lined and delicately colored illustrations depict vibrant, earth-toned scenes so soaked with conversation and interaction that, if readers lean close, they might be able to listen in. Various skin tones and body shapes and sizes celebrate a broad spectrum of body diversity. Rhythmic, occasionally rhyming second-person narration invites young readers into the rollicking fun of the bath-house experience. The girl and Baachan understand each other without saying a word-a powerful metaphor for how this book can serve as a cultural bridge between Western and Eastern sensibilities of privacy and body positivity. (This book was reviewed digitally.)A must-have celebration of cultural understanding and community-and the joy of family. (glossary, author's note) (Picture book. 3-7)