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Loading... Suki's Kimono (edition 2005)by Chieri Uegaki, Stephane Jorisch (Illustrator)
Work InformationSuki's Kimono by Chieri Uegaki
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Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. No current Talk conversations about this book. First grader Suki loves her kimono and the memories attached to it. She decides to wear it on the first day of school. Her sisters pretend not to know her and classmates snicker. Suki doesn't let them bother her, she is proud of her outfit and family. She later enjoys sharing bits of her family's culture with her classmates. ( ) A young Japanese-American girl wants to wear her favorite thing in the world on her first day of school: a kimono given to her by her grandmother. In the face of taunting by siblings and peers, she finds the courage to be herself anyway, winning admiration from all by the end of the tale. A heartwarming story. Oh the struggles of fitting in. Don't (fill in the blank with something you want to do) because people will think.... (you fill in the blank). Suki's older sisters try to warn her of how to make a good impression on the first day of school, but she doesn't listen. She is excited to show off the kimono that her grandmother gave her during her visit this summer. Other kids laugh and tease her about the way she had dressed, but she doesn't let this get her down. When it comes time for her to share of her summer vacation, she captivates the room with her vivid story of the festival she attended with her grandmother. She explains her kimono and even shows the traditional dances that she saw at the festival. On the way home the older sisters were disappointed that no one noticed their carefully planed out outfits, but Suki was floating home because she embraced her culture, shared it with the class, and practiced being proud of who she is. A little girl stands up to her sisters, in deciding to wear her favorite outfit -- a kimono that her grandmother gave to her -- on her first day of school. She braves the mockery of her classmates and shows the kids the Japanese dance that she remembers.[return][return]Very sweet and touching. The child's affection for her grandmother, and the evocative description of her dance and memory of the dance she saw, stand out.
On the first day of school, Suki is determined to wear her favorite clothes, even though her two older sisters don’t approve. She doesn’t care about new or cool outfits, just about wearing the kimono, geta, and pink scarf her obachan gave her. Many kids at school do tease Suki, but she continues to hold her head up. When it’s her turn to tell about her summer, she describes the festival she attended with her grandmother and begins to dance as her obachan taught her. Now instead of teasing, Suki has the respect of her classmates. And in a twist of irony, the sisters who told Suki she’d be teased for her outfit come home grumpy because no one noticed their new clothing, while Suki dances home with the wind in her pink scarf. Jorisch’s watercolor illustrations are reminiscent of Japanese brush paintings. Her characters’ faces are extremely expressive and perfectly portray their feelings. A wonderful story about being yourself, with the added bonus of teaching readers a little about Japanese culture. (glossary) (Picture book. 5-8) In Uegaki's appealing first book, a first-grader prefers to face scorn from her classmates rather than give up her beloved kimono. Stylish illustrations by Jorisch (Oma's Quilt) add pizzazz. Suki's grandmother buys her the beautiful blue kimono and takes her to the summer festival, where they dance together to Japanese music. Here Jorisch's urban backdrops give life to the pleasures and surprises of a small ethnic enclave in a good-size city. When Suki wants to wear the kimono on the first day of school, her older sisters' disapproval and warnings do not deter her. Jorisch's lightly tinted but gaily drawn watercolors show Suki as she strolls along with her arms out and her sleeves aloft, "like she'd grown her own set of wings"; she's blissfully innocent of the poking and giggling going on around her. When their teacher, Mrs. Paggio, asks the class about their summer vacations, Suki, by now aware of other children's reactions, describes the festival, then demonstrates the festival dance right in front of everyone. Jorisch captures the moment: Suki performs the steps in a series of vignettes, then waits alone, with scarlet cheeks, on the left-hand page while her classmates watch from desks on the right. Mrs. Paggio applauds, "and after a moment, so did the entire class." Given the true-to-life character, readers may feel like applauding, too. Ages 5-8.
On her first day of first grade, despite the objections of her older sisters, Suki chooses to wear her beloved Japanese kimono to school because it holds special memories of her grandmother's visit last summer. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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