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A review by liftyourheavyeyelids
The Big Bath House by Kyo Maclear
5.0
This is a beautiful picture book!
Upon reading the first two pages, I felt an instant connection to the story. The girl arriving to her Japanese grandmother's house after traveling reminded me so much of traveling to Puerto Rico and arriving to my abuela's house! The first lines of the book are so lovely, and so relatable for me: "When you get to Baachan's place, you'll forget about all the time that's passed and everything that happened to get you there. You'll tumble towards her and she'll shuffle toward you, and it'll be understood". I think these lines are relatable to anyone going to their grandma's house, no matter how close or far, but the significance of traveling to another country where your grandma speaks another language is totally represented here.
I also loved the drawings of women in the bathhouse. It took me by surprise at first (I'm very American in that sense), but after I checked myself, I found it very refreshing. It felt very body positive and the illustrations really are beautiful.
Upon reading the first two pages, I felt an instant connection to the story. The girl arriving to her Japanese grandmother's house after traveling reminded me so much of traveling to Puerto Rico and arriving to my abuela's house! The first lines of the book are so lovely, and so relatable for me: "When you get to Baachan's place, you'll forget about all the time that's passed and everything that happened to get you there. You'll tumble towards her and she'll shuffle toward you, and it'll be understood". I think these lines are relatable to anyone going to their grandma's house, no matter how close or far, but the significance of traveling to another country where your grandma speaks another language is totally represented here.
I also loved the drawings of women in the bathhouse. It took me by surprise at first (I'm very American in that sense), but after I checked myself, I found it very refreshing. It felt very body positive and the illustrations really are beautiful.