  | Perfect Author: Brown, Waka T. | |
| Price: $24.48 | ||
Summary:
A young girl learns to appreciate life's imperfections when her grandmother teaches her about the Japanese art form kintsugi.
| Illustrator: | Jones, Yuko |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (10/01/24)
Booklist (+) (07/01/24)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/10/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 07/01/2024 *Starred Review* Miki expects perfection. She won’t eat broken cookies. After losing Owlie (a lovable stuffed animal) outdoors and finding him with one wing missing, she can’t accept his imperfection. Miki’s obaachan, arrives and gives her a beautiful blue-and-white teacup that reminds Miki of her family’s beach vacation. She loves the cup, and when she accidentally breaks it, she’s distraught. Obaachan fixes it using a Japanese practice that includes mending the crack lines with lacquer and gold. Miki enables herself to continue appreciating the cup’s beauty by associating the jagged golden lines with lightning seen during a storm at the beach. Miki and Obaachan give Owlie a new wing, and Miki, who no longer prizes perfection, still loves to cuddle with him. The appended author’s note mentions Brown’s appreciation for Japanese pottery as well as an explanation of “the art of kintsugi, in which broken fragments are mended with lacquer and gold pigment.” Jones contributes the clearly drawn, emotionally resonant mixed-media artwork using a combination of pen-and-ink, watercolor, gouache, watercolor pencil, and digital elements. The straightforward storytelling and illustration, the portrayal of a strong intergenerational relationship, and the antiperfectionist theme make this thought-provoking book a memorable one as well. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
