librarianryan's review
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
5.0
This book is about the author’s memories of her time spent in Japan. Where big group baths are common. This story is lovingly told and would be fantastic at story time if Americans weren’t such small minded people who bring shame to everything. Because this book has illustrations of naked women. It’s not to glorify and it’s not to be lustful. It’s to say bodies are human, bodies are normal. And that being around others bearing your body is culturally relevant. This book is wonderful and it’s such a shame that some kids will never get to read it.
jennywithaz's review
5.0
A beautiful celebration of Japanese bath house culture, full of body positivity / the normalization of naked bodies. It is also a celebration of the intimate connection between family members across language barriers. Beautiful!
msgabbythelibrarian's review
3.0
Oh boy, if the Idaho Legislature got their hands on this book.....with its drawings of nude women (complete with nipples and pubic hair)
Guess what, I'm sure this is what Japanese bath houses (or any communal place) is like. So it's fine!
Guess what, I'm sure this is what Japanese bath houses (or any communal place) is like. So it's fine!
dawnoftheread's review
5.0
Naked lady spa day! Someone will definitely complain. But it is lovely and natural and healthy, imho.
pib003's review
5.0
What a cozy, sweet book. I would love to read this in storytime someday, but I think the grown-ups would have my head.
bluenicorn's review
4.0
I really liked this. It's basically depicting a childhood memory of the author, so it's sweet and celebrating family, but in a way that also casually embraces body positivity. All of the women and children in the book are nude for most of it, but that's because they're in the big bath house. The tone is in no way prurient; the casual nudity really brings home how western society conditions us to feel shame and self-consciousness about our bodies. These are just family members catching up and relaxing, without the shape or size or condition of their bodies having anything to do with anything. That's a pretty great message to me.
heisereads's review
4.0
While I appreciate this book for the beauty of the memoir and experience with family in Japan, I just can't put it in my school libraries because of the nudity, even though the author's note makes clear normalizing this is part of her purpose.
abigailbat's review
This gentle picture book about a young girl attending a Japanese bath house with her family shows acceptance of all kinds of bodies and a ritual shared between family members to grow bonds beyond language.