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The Big Bath House
A joyful celebration of Japanese cultural traditions and body positivity as a young girl visits a bath house with her grandmother and aunties
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.
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.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published November 16, 2021
1 person is currently reading
365 people want to read
About the author
Kyo Maclear
32 books498 followersKyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and children’s author. She was born in London, England and moved to Toronto at the age of four with her British father (a foreign correspondent and documentary filmmaker) and Japanese mother (a painter and art dealer).
Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the National Magazine Awards, among other honours.
Unearthing: a Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023) was a national bestseller and awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017) was a #1 National Bestseller and winner of the Trillium Book Award and the Nautilus Book Award for Lyrical Prose. It was named one of the best books of 2017 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Now Magazine, the National Post, Forbes, the Chicago Review of Books, and Book Riot.
Her work has appeared in Orion Magazine, Brick, Border Crossings, The Millions, LitHub, The Volta, Prefix Photo, Resilience, The Guardian, Lion’s Roar, Azure, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere. She has been a national arts reviewer for Canadian Art and a monthly arts columnist for Toronto Life.
Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities teaches creative writing with The Humber School for Writers and the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
She lives in Tkaronto/Toronto, on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Huron-Wendat.
Her books have been translated into eighteen languages, published in over twenty-five countries, and garnered nominations from the Hilary Weston Writers’ Trust Prize for Nonfiction, the Governor General’s Literary Awards, the TD Canadian Children’s Literature Awards, the Amazon.ca First Novel Award, the National Magazine Awards, among other honours.
Unearthing: a Story of Tangled Love and Family Secrets (2023) was a national bestseller and awarded the Governor General’s Literary Award for Nonfiction. Her hybrid memoir Birds Art Life (2017) was a #1 National Bestseller and winner of the Trillium Book Award and the Nautilus Book Award for Lyrical Prose. It was named one of the best books of 2017 by The Globe and Mail, CBC, Now Magazine, the National Post, Forbes, the Chicago Review of Books, and Book Riot.
Her work has appeared in Orion Magazine, Brick, Border Crossings, The Millions, LitHub, The Volta, Prefix Photo, Resilience, The Guardian, Lion’s Roar, Azure, The Globe and Mail, and elsewhere. She has been a national arts reviewer for Canadian Art and a monthly arts columnist for Toronto Life.
Kyo holds a doctorate in environmental humanities teaches creative writing with The Humber School for Writers and the University of Guelph Creative Writing MFA.
She lives in Tkaronto/Toronto, on the traditional territories of the Mississaugas of the New Credit, the Haudenosaunee, Métis, and the Huron-Wendat.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 204 reviews
December 22, 2022
I haven’t felt like writing reviews, especially for picture books, but I have to say that I loved everything about this book. This is a book I’d love to own.
August 30, 2024
The Big Bath House shares what it is like to go to a bath house in Japan. It’s great to see family coming together to enjoy such a wonderful opportunity and for that to be shared with the reader.
As someone who has traveled to Japan and experienced a bath house, this book is spot on. It was great to relive the experience through the book with the bright colors and expressive drawings.
I recommend this book for those wanting to learn about different cultures and experiences; for those who are willing to step outside of their comfort zone to try something new and different.
Visiting a bath house in Japan is a must. -Dana S.
As someone who has traveled to Japan and experienced a bath house, this book is spot on. It was great to relive the experience through the book with the bright colors and expressive drawings.
I recommend this book for those wanting to learn about different cultures and experiences; for those who are willing to step outside of their comfort zone to try something new and different.
Visiting a bath house in Japan is a must. -Dana S.
February 6, 2022
The author shares a sweet memory of visiting her grandmother and other relatives in Japan and going to a communal bathhouse as a family activity. I've read a lot of manga, so I'm familiar with how traditional, common, and casual public bathing is in Japan, but I have to wonder how soon before some uptight, overprotective parent here in America challenges this book for the full-frontal nudity depicted despite its terrific celebration of body types of all ages.
I do wish it were made more clear in the story that the author's character doesn't actually speak Japanese and that everything occurs through a language barrier.
(Another project! I'm reading all the picture books and graphic novels from NPR's Books We Love 2021: Kids’ Books list.)
I do wish it were made more clear in the story that the author's character doesn't actually speak Japanese and that everything occurs through a language barrier.
(Another project! I'm reading all the picture books and graphic novels from NPR's Books We Love 2021: Kids’ Books list.)
December 13, 2021
Nice to see a book about body positivity, without being about body positivity.
December 9, 2025
In Kyo Maclear's 2021 picture book The Big Bath House (which is based on the author's own childhood, and shows not only a totally delightful and wonderful textual and visual celebration of both women's bodies and of one very special and wonderful aspect of Japanese culture, but is also even if a bit indirectly demonstrating that language barriers and gaps do not really matter all that much if or when everyone is having fun, everyone is enjoying themselves), a young girl visits her Baachan (Grandmother) in Japan from aboard.
And one day, the little girl (whom I will call Kyo, even though no name is mentioned in the The Big Bath House) meets up with her female relatives (aunts, cousins etc.) and together, they all make their way to the local bath house, where after putting on traditional wooden sandals and yukatas (bathrobes), the women and girls collectively gather with each other and local female friends and acquaintances, and with this indeed and wonderfully joyfully showing to readers and to listeners that visiting the bathhouse is a communal, is a party-like and celebratory event in Japan (and with both Kyo Maclear's text and also Gracey Zhang's beautiful watercolour illustrations glowingly, evocatively depicting and showing this in The Big Bath House, as Zhang's pictures depict the bath house to be a large, open area surrounded by nature, with varying sizes of tubs and sinks, all surrounded by traditional Japanese architecture, a sweetly calming and relaxing atmosphere, and where everyone is enjoying themselves, is chatting, having fun communally bathing and unwinding).
But most notably (and for me delightfully and wonderfully), in The Big Bath House, all the girls and women attending (both young and older) are both textually and visually described by Kyo Maclear's words and by Gracey Zhang's illustrations as being completely naked. And yes indeed, that ALL of Zhang's pictures for The Big Bath House show nudity fully, frontally, realistically, with expressive joy and an absolute illustrative celebration and acceptance of the female body, and indeed with ALL shapes and sizes being depicted positively and with no sense of puritanic shame and hysteria at nakedness, and that nudity is obviously something natural and something positive, for me (and as a persona of German background who has always thought that the North American Victorian sense of nudity being something negative and to be hidden is strange and actually both body and people shaming), Gracey Zhang's illustrations are wonderful and both her pictures and Kyo Mclear's writing do not only do a delightful job showing the Japanese culture of attending bath houses, but yes, the combination of text and images in The Big Bath House show naturally and with an air of celebration and delight that the female body (all sizes, all shapes) should be celebrated and that nakedness is something natural and not something that is problematic and needs to remain hidden.
For yes, in The Big Bath House, everyone disrobes and bathes together in the big bathtub, with the women and girls scrubbing each others' backs, with Baachan washing Kyo's hair, with everyone having collective fun and celebrating family and community (and while as mentioned already, the fact that everyone is naked in The Big Bath House does totally celebrate the body, there is also something so entirely natural with regard to what Kyo Maclear's writes and Gracey Zhang illustrates that The Big Bath House also cannot and should not be seen as some kind of a total focus on nudity, but is first and foremost a celebration of family, of culture, of female community and meeting and having fun together, and well, that the nudity is actually rather incidental and simply something that realistically and naturally will be occurring in a typical Japanese bath house).
Five glowing and shining stars for The Big Bath House and with both Kyo Maclear's text and Gracey Zhang's illustrations being equally and very warmly and ecstatically recommended (not only to for children but really for everyone). And honestly, for those who on Amazon have been calling The Big Bath House pornographic because of the depicted and described nudity, I can only say that these "people" (and the quotes are mine and on purpose) are obviously rather majorly unhinged with regard to the human and in particular the female body, and in particular if they consider bathing in the nude to be unnatural and abnormal (but that sadly, if these individuals have children, they might very well be teaching body shame and other such horrors to their kids, and that I also hope the ranting Amazon one star reviewers will not be able to get The Big Bath House banned from school and public libraries in certain US states, but frustratingly, that I would also not be at all surprised if that were to be the case, as the book banners are getting increasingly rabid and the politicians who support book banning increasingly powerful and strangely Nazi/Stalinist like).
And one day, the little girl (whom I will call Kyo, even though no name is mentioned in the The Big Bath House) meets up with her female relatives (aunts, cousins etc.) and together, they all make their way to the local bath house, where after putting on traditional wooden sandals and yukatas (bathrobes), the women and girls collectively gather with each other and local female friends and acquaintances, and with this indeed and wonderfully joyfully showing to readers and to listeners that visiting the bathhouse is a communal, is a party-like and celebratory event in Japan (and with both Kyo Maclear's text and also Gracey Zhang's beautiful watercolour illustrations glowingly, evocatively depicting and showing this in The Big Bath House, as Zhang's pictures depict the bath house to be a large, open area surrounded by nature, with varying sizes of tubs and sinks, all surrounded by traditional Japanese architecture, a sweetly calming and relaxing atmosphere, and where everyone is enjoying themselves, is chatting, having fun communally bathing and unwinding).
But most notably (and for me delightfully and wonderfully), in The Big Bath House, all the girls and women attending (both young and older) are both textually and visually described by Kyo Maclear's words and by Gracey Zhang's illustrations as being completely naked. And yes indeed, that ALL of Zhang's pictures for The Big Bath House show nudity fully, frontally, realistically, with expressive joy and an absolute illustrative celebration and acceptance of the female body, and indeed with ALL shapes and sizes being depicted positively and with no sense of puritanic shame and hysteria at nakedness, and that nudity is obviously something natural and something positive, for me (and as a persona of German background who has always thought that the North American Victorian sense of nudity being something negative and to be hidden is strange and actually both body and people shaming), Gracey Zhang's illustrations are wonderful and both her pictures and Kyo Mclear's writing do not only do a delightful job showing the Japanese culture of attending bath houses, but yes, the combination of text and images in The Big Bath House show naturally and with an air of celebration and delight that the female body (all sizes, all shapes) should be celebrated and that nakedness is something natural and not something that is problematic and needs to remain hidden.
For yes, in The Big Bath House, everyone disrobes and bathes together in the big bathtub, with the women and girls scrubbing each others' backs, with Baachan washing Kyo's hair, with everyone having collective fun and celebrating family and community (and while as mentioned already, the fact that everyone is naked in The Big Bath House does totally celebrate the body, there is also something so entirely natural with regard to what Kyo Maclear's writes and Gracey Zhang illustrates that The Big Bath House also cannot and should not be seen as some kind of a total focus on nudity, but is first and foremost a celebration of family, of culture, of female community and meeting and having fun together, and well, that the nudity is actually rather incidental and simply something that realistically and naturally will be occurring in a typical Japanese bath house).
Five glowing and shining stars for The Big Bath House and with both Kyo Maclear's text and Gracey Zhang's illustrations being equally and very warmly and ecstatically recommended (not only to for children but really for everyone). And honestly, for those who on Amazon have been calling The Big Bath House pornographic because of the depicted and described nudity, I can only say that these "people" (and the quotes are mine and on purpose) are obviously rather majorly unhinged with regard to the human and in particular the female body, and in particular if they consider bathing in the nude to be unnatural and abnormal (but that sadly, if these individuals have children, they might very well be teaching body shame and other such horrors to their kids, and that I also hope the ranting Amazon one star reviewers will not be able to get The Big Bath House banned from school and public libraries in certain US states, but frustratingly, that I would also not be at all surprised if that were to be the case, as the book banners are getting increasingly rabid and the politicians who support book banning increasingly powerful and strangely Nazi/Stalinist like).
November 12, 2021
A book that is an experience written by one of my author-heroes, Kyo Maclear, and gesturally, beautifully illustrated by Gracey Zhang.
Drawn from memory, intimate yet immersive, and full of so much joy around visiting Baachan and family at the big bath house and around BODIES at the big bath house.
Drawn from memory, intimate yet immersive, and full of so much joy around visiting Baachan and family at the big bath house and around BODIES at the big bath house.
June 4, 2022
When I heard that this book was being challenged at a local library, I knew I had to read it. As I understand it, there were parents upset with the nudity in the book.
There is an author's note at the very end of the book discussing how she wrote this to capture and share beloved memories with her extended family. The last paragraph of her note states: "Because of the bath house, I grew up surrounded by naked bodies of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I saw breasts of women who had nursed many babies. Large bottoms, saggy bottoms. Grandmas with gentle rolls of fat. The idea that bodies should always be private and clothed wasn't the norm, and part of my hope with this story is to share and celebrate this other way of being" (Maclear).
This is a book about family bonding and body positivity. A little girl visits her grandma and other extended family and they all take a trip to a public bath house. The bath they share is amongst female relatives and a sex-separated bathing area. The art depicts the women's bodies in full nude, in a simple, almost cartoony art style--not hyper-realism. Breasts and pubic hair are depicted. There is nothing sexual in the interaction of female family chatting and essentially having a spa day together. The purpose of how the women are depicted at this bath house is to normalize naked bodies existing without being sexualized in every situation.
Community bathing is not so much the norm in the culture I grew up in, but it is not unheard of for parents to save bath water and time by having small children bathe together. Public bath houses haven't been common in America since the AIDS outbreak in the 80s, but they are not uncommon in cultures such as Japan's. (Looking into a bit of American bath house history, I'm surprised to find that there are still several in modern use. I feel like I've never really heard of public bath houses in the west as I was growing up.) This book should also be viewed with a responsible sense of cultural relativity.
For all this, the complaints I've heard about the book seem ironic to its message.
The feeling I got from this book was like the little girl after her bath being wrapped up in a warm hug and fuzzy towel with her mother. It was like taking a little vacation with loved ones, vicariously through this shared memory.
~Shay
There is an author's note at the very end of the book discussing how she wrote this to capture and share beloved memories with her extended family. The last paragraph of her note states: "Because of the bath house, I grew up surrounded by naked bodies of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I saw breasts of women who had nursed many babies. Large bottoms, saggy bottoms. Grandmas with gentle rolls of fat. The idea that bodies should always be private and clothed wasn't the norm, and part of my hope with this story is to share and celebrate this other way of being" (Maclear).
This is a book about family bonding and body positivity. A little girl visits her grandma and other extended family and they all take a trip to a public bath house. The bath they share is amongst female relatives and a sex-separated bathing area. The art depicts the women's bodies in full nude, in a simple, almost cartoony art style--not hyper-realism. Breasts and pubic hair are depicted. There is nothing sexual in the interaction of female family chatting and essentially having a spa day together. The purpose of how the women are depicted at this bath house is to normalize naked bodies existing without being sexualized in every situation.
Community bathing is not so much the norm in the culture I grew up in, but it is not unheard of for parents to save bath water and time by having small children bathe together. Public bath houses haven't been common in America since the AIDS outbreak in the 80s, but they are not uncommon in cultures such as Japan's. (Looking into a bit of American bath house history, I'm surprised to find that there are still several in modern use. I feel like I've never really heard of public bath houses in the west as I was growing up.) This book should also be viewed with a responsible sense of cultural relativity.
For all this, the complaints I've heard about the book seem ironic to its message.
The feeling I got from this book was like the little girl after her bath being wrapped up in a warm hug and fuzzy towel with her mother. It was like taking a little vacation with loved ones, vicariously through this shared memory.
~Shay
November 29, 2022
This is a warm, beautiful celebration of family and togetherness and shared tradition. Both text and illustrations shine. A young girl returns to Japan to spend time with her grandmother and extended family and one of the most treasured activities is spending time at the big bath house with her female relatives.
"Soak it up, sink right in.
Into the tub.
The steaming tub in the big bath house.
You'll all dip your bodies,
your newly sprouting,
gangly bodies,
your saggy, shapley,
jiggly bodies,
your cozy, creased,
ancient bodies.
Beautiful bodies."
I do wish the text had made it clear that there is a language barrier between the granddaughter and grandmother. It hints that some things are simply "understood" without words, but it is only in the afterward that we learn they actually do not speak the same language. I also wish a pronunciation guide and English definitions were included for the Japanese words to make it more educational for non-Japanese speaking audiences.
However, these are small quibbles and overall it's such a lovely, heartwarming story and feels very immersive for sharing a way of life that is foreign to me so I do highly recommend it with the caveat that if your family does not want your children seeing nudity in picture book illustrations, this will not be for you. (There is plenty of full-frontal nudity, completely tasteful and body-positive, IMO.) The author writes in her afterward, "Because of the bath house, I grew up surrounded by naked bodies of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I saw breasts of women who had nursed many babies. Large bottoms, saggy bottoms. Grandmas with gentle rolls of fat. The idea that bodies should always be private and clothed wasn't the norm, and part of my hope with this story is to share and celebrate this other way of being."
"Soak it up, sink right in.
Into the tub.
The steaming tub in the big bath house.
You'll all dip your bodies,
your newly sprouting,
gangly bodies,
your saggy, shapley,
jiggly bodies,
your cozy, creased,
ancient bodies.
Beautiful bodies."
I do wish the text had made it clear that there is a language barrier between the granddaughter and grandmother. It hints that some things are simply "understood" without words, but it is only in the afterward that we learn they actually do not speak the same language. I also wish a pronunciation guide and English definitions were included for the Japanese words to make it more educational for non-Japanese speaking audiences.
However, these are small quibbles and overall it's such a lovely, heartwarming story and feels very immersive for sharing a way of life that is foreign to me so I do highly recommend it with the caveat that if your family does not want your children seeing nudity in picture book illustrations, this will not be for you. (There is plenty of full-frontal nudity, completely tasteful and body-positive, IMO.) The author writes in her afterward, "Because of the bath house, I grew up surrounded by naked bodies of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I saw breasts of women who had nursed many babies. Large bottoms, saggy bottoms. Grandmas with gentle rolls of fat. The idea that bodies should always be private and clothed wasn't the norm, and part of my hope with this story is to share and celebrate this other way of being."
June 30, 2022
Kyo is a magical (and magically underrated!) author. We love her The Good Little Book so much at our house and Birds Art Life is one of the most delicate and whimsical memoirs I’ve ever read. I am starting to fall into her orbit. This work recounts her early childhood memories of visiting her grandmother in Japan and visiting bath houses. The book offers a rare acceptance and comfort with all body types, a vision of a world with less strictures and more acceptance between us, and, as my kids will joyfully tell you, a whooooooole lot of full-frontal. Publisher says for age 4-8 and offers this one-liner summary: “A joyful celebration of Japanese cultural traditions and body positivity as a young girl visits a bath house with her grandmother and aunties.” MatthewP on Amazon gives it 1-star and says “Great, lets normalize naked adults bathing with children. This is a dangerous book!” But others in our build-your-own-echo-chamber world call it a “Best Book of the Year” (like the New York Public Library, NPR, Publisher’s Weekly, and The American Library Association.) My kids loved it and my wife and I loved it. We didn’t feel it was dangerous in any way. Sure, the vision it depicts feels a long ways off but books are magical and being a dreamer is great fun. Kudos to Kyo for helping us find something we maybe didn’t know we lost. Pairs well with the wonderful Bodies Are Cool by Tyler Feder.
March 20, 2022
One girl celebrates the Japanese tradition of going to a Bath house to relax and unwind with the women of her family, including her Baachan (Grandmother).
The book explores the culture and freeing powers of the body and the joy/togetherness of this tradition.
#OwnVoices Author Kyo Maclear shares her personal story. Perhaps that is the story that you should read before this book. It will open up your eyes and remind you that the body isn't something to be hidden or shamed. It's something to be celebrated and given the pampering we all deserve.
The book explores the culture and freeing powers of the body and the joy/togetherness of this tradition.
#OwnVoices Author Kyo Maclear shares her personal story. Perhaps that is the story that you should read before this book. It will open up your eyes and remind you that the body isn't something to be hidden or shamed. It's something to be celebrated and given the pampering we all deserve.
February 13, 2022
What a sweet picture book. I love the bond between this girl and her grandmother and her Japanese culture. I also liked how normalized the bathhouse was and women’s nude bodies of different sizes. Positive expressions of body image without shame or sexualization.
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February 23, 2022I must be conservative because there was too much nudity & pubic hair in this children’s picture book for me. I love the story and message about the bath house ritual and praise for body diversity, but I just did not love the naked girls’ & womens’ bodies. So, overall I’m torn because I think this was a really nicely written book about Japanese bath houses.
August 12, 2023
For years we lived in Japan and visited the bathhouse a few times a week. My kids loved the hot water, the communal chatter, being spoiled by unrelated aunties, and the walk home after dark.
Now my kids are older and we live abroad so they hardly think of it. It was fantastic to read this with them and bring back so many amazing memories, and remind my kids of all the different and normal bodies they saw.
Now my kids are older and we live abroad so they hardly think of it. It was fantastic to read this with them and bring back so many amazing memories, and remind my kids of all the different and normal bodies they saw.
April 16, 2022
Read the author and illustrators interview from SLJ for really great context. This book is beautiful.
February 6, 2022
I didn't realize that the little girl and her grandmother didn't speak the same language until reading the afterword, so the book didn't make much sense to me.
January 4, 2022
Another picture book about celebrating all bodies. A girl accompanies her grandmother, her aunties, her mother, and her cousins to the big bath house. Really shows the difference between how Americans (hidden) handle nudity compared to other countries (embraced). Could be used for a bath time storytime, our bodies, or one about different cultures or traditions. The use of 2nd person is interesting because it puts the narrator in the body of the young girl taking in this tradition, rather than being an outsider just observing.
March 7, 2024
A coworker made a comment that this book should not be displayed in the library since it was full of naked bodies, and that was not a conversation she wanted to have with kids/ parents. But if you read the author's note, that exactly why this book was written, to share the love that she experienced in summers with her grandma at the bath house, where she grew to understand that different bodies were nothing to be shamed of.
June 15, 2024
An onsen picture book. The text never mentions nudity but Gracey Zhang's illustrations present the obvious nudity (because of a communal bathhouse) as mater of fact. It's there and a wide range of feminine bodies and ages are presented. It's not sexualized. It's not sensationalized. It's just there in the background of a memory laced with anticipation for the next time visiting family.
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/com...
https://pussreboots.com/blog/2024/com...
March 13, 2022
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.
April 22, 2022
What a cozy, sweet book. I would love to read this in storytime someday, but I think the grown-ups would have my head.
January 8, 2022
A wonderful exploration of culture in a simple intergenerational story. I appreciated the authors note at the end which I think will enlighten some readers who may have a difficult time with the concept. My only teeny tiny issue is the covering up of male body parts. Not saying it needs to be explicit, but kids are curious and withholding this information in a title that celebrates body diversity may generate more questions and feelings of secrecy. That being said…yes for showing littles that every body is natural and beautiful in an innocent and interesting way.
January 18, 2022
Wonderful story about a young girl who visits her "Baachan's" home in Japan every summer. She tells of her experience in the bath house. Very cute!
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May 10, 2024*4.5
March 25, 2022
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!
August 14, 2024
This book is a gem.
February 10, 2022
Written about a new adolescent who visits her Baachan's place in Japan. Grandma, Mom, aunts and daughter go to the big, bath house. There is tradition and preparation as they prepare for their visit.
There is a lot of naked bodies in the illustrations - I love that. The author writes:
"You'll all dip your bodies,
your newly sprouting,
gangly bodies,
your saggy shapely
jiggly bodies,
our cozy, creased,
ancient bodies.
Beautiful bodies.
Bodies are beautiful. They help tell the story of our lives. There's an illustration of an auntie, with a big, soft towel, wrapping her niece snuggly in a soft towel. It reminded me of being little and getting out of the bath and being warmly wrapped up in a towel.
Bodies have been very sexualized when I was growing up. I have really enjoyed seeing all sorts of shapes of bodies in advertising as of late.
This book will not be everybody's cup of tea because of the nudity, but I really enjoyed it. I wish that we had a big bath house before I was thrown into the locker room in junior high. That was traumatic. It would be nice to recognize that bodies are not always sexual. Nursing a baby is not sexual or shameful - not something to be done in a bathroom, hidden away. Books like this are a safe place where parents can teach their children about family, traditions, and their wonderful bodies.
There is a lot of naked bodies in the illustrations - I love that. The author writes:
"You'll all dip your bodies,
your newly sprouting,
gangly bodies,
your saggy shapely
jiggly bodies,
our cozy, creased,
ancient bodies.
Beautiful bodies.
Bodies are beautiful. They help tell the story of our lives. There's an illustration of an auntie, with a big, soft towel, wrapping her niece snuggly in a soft towel. It reminded me of being little and getting out of the bath and being warmly wrapped up in a towel.
Bodies have been very sexualized when I was growing up. I have really enjoyed seeing all sorts of shapes of bodies in advertising as of late.
This book will not be everybody's cup of tea because of the nudity, but I really enjoyed it. I wish that we had a big bath house before I was thrown into the locker room in junior high. That was traumatic. It would be nice to recognize that bodies are not always sexual. Nursing a baby is not sexual or shameful - not something to be done in a bathroom, hidden away. Books like this are a safe place where parents can teach their children about family, traditions, and their wonderful bodies.
November 20, 2021
This book is just full of joy. Maclear's descriptions of a young girl going to visit her grandmother in Japan and then sharing the traditional bath experience with her combined with lZhang's illustrations, especially of all the various bodies, young and old, small and big, firm and paunchy give a full picture of life than may seem very different to some readers but also very appealing. The intergenerational nature of the story as well as the celebration of the human body make this a book well worth sharing. A Japanese friend said it perfectly depicted her experiences with her grandmother. Bravo
March 12, 2022
Just read The Big Bath House, and I don’t see what the problem that some people have. At first, upon hearing about it from fellow librarian friends, I was coming at it with a Midwestern American-centric idea of, “being nude together is absolutely fine but a little unusual for here.” Then I got it and realized it was set in Japan, where that's a cultural norm! I love the attitude that nudity is not necessarily indicative of active sexuality, and that all bodies are beautiful. I also kind of love the idea of kids getting to see what their bodies might change into as they age, and understanding that it’s natural.
Honestly, I just love the story of three generations of women relaxing and having fun in the bathhouse. Makes me want to visit one.
Honestly, I just love the story of three generations of women relaxing and having fun in the bathhouse. Makes me want to visit one.
March 15, 2022
This is a book that relates a very specific cultural experience: bathing at a traditional Japanese bathhouse. The human body is unashamedly undressed here, not in any salacious way, but in a still straightforward way. The acceptance of this book will depend upon the young readers' cultural and familial feelings about nudity. (Personally, I know this book would have embarrassed me as a child.) Parents will want to preview it first, of course, and make their own choices about its appropriateness for their family.
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May 24, 2022This 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.
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