When the Cousins Came

Starred review from May 1, 2018
In a story that's reminiscent of "The Town Mouse and the Country Mouse," a young mixed Japanese-white girl savors creating summer memories with her cousins."The night before the cousins came, I couldn't sleep." Country girl Lila is excited to host city cousins Rosie and Takeo, who sport hair styled in "two puffy balls" and "a little shark fin," respectively. Her bucket list is full of simple pleasures, such as painting and camping outside. Luckily for her, her cousins are game, and they take turns teaching each other new things, such as skateboarding, riding a bike, and how to eat with chopsticks, " 'Hold them like this,' said Takeo. I tried...and tried." (The page offers four amusing scenes of Lila first awkwardly using the unfamiliar utensils and then finally gaining mastery.) Lila also introduces her cousins to fireflies. " 'What is that?!?' asked Takeo. I caught a firefly and cupped it in my hands. The firefly bumped gently against the walls of my palms. 'Just look,' I whispered to Rosie." Yamasaki uses deceptively simple, carefully chosen language for the brief blocks of text on each page. The rest of the story is told through her paintings, which are defined by bright brush strokes of color. The overall effect is a quiet story that captures all those small cherished moments in childhood.A rare find about family featuring a mixed-raced protagonist. (Picture book. 4-7)

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May 15, 2018
Grades K-2 Lila is thrilled when her cousins Rosie and Takeo come to visit. Lila has a baby brother, but he is too young to be much fun. She cannot wait to have company closer to her own age. The cousins, however, are not exactly what Lila expects. Being from the city, they do things a little differently. Lila has a bicycle; they have skateboards. Lila paints a picture; they paint a mural on a fence. They know how to use chopsticks to eat their noodles. Even their hairstyles seem sophisticated. Lila thinks, Everything the cousins did was a little bit extra special. Rosie and Takeo learn that the country has its own appeal when they nervously agree to a night walk and discover the magic of fireflies. A planned campout is canceled due to rain, but the children make an elaborate indoor tent, one big enough for all three of them to share. Mixed-media collage illustrations, incorporating acrylic, gouache, pastels, colored pencil, and hand-painted cut paper, beautifully present the multiethnic family.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2018
Lila is excited to have her city cousins, Rosie and Takeo, visit. She's happy when they do her hair--Rosie, with her two-puffball hairdo, redoes Lila's braids into more of a shark fin like Takeo's--and when they play outside ( We brought our own wheels, says skateboard-holding Rosie). When Lila sees her cousins using chopsticks better than she can, and when they hold each other's hands in the dark, she starts to feel left out. On their last night together, Lila proposes camping. No way?Too scary, say Takeo and Rosie, and rain further foils the plan. But Pop suggests camping indoors--the perfect idea! While the text never mentions the ethnicity of the characters, Lila's ethnic identity appears to be different from that of her cousins, and the story positively depicts how barriers can be erased when kids who may not look alike, or have all the same experiences, spend time together. Yamasaki's vibrant mixed-media collage illustrations convey this family well; butterflies that appear on the cover and surround the kids frequently may be intended as metaphors for unity or happiness (though they occasionally are visually distracting). In any case, this is a useful mirror book for many readers as well as a quiet story of how people from different backgrounds and cultures can meet halfway and learn from each other. michelle h. martin

(Copyright 2018 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

January 1, 2019
Lila's happy when her visiting city cousins, Rosie and Takeo, do her hair and play with her outside. But Lila starts to feel left out when she sees her cousins using chopsticks better than she can. While the text never mentions it, Lila's ethnic identity appears to be different from that of her cousins. With vibrant mixed-media collages, this is a quiet story of how people from different backgrounds and cultures can learn from each other.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 1, 2018

K-Gr 2-Lila eagerly anticipates the arrival of her two cousins who are visiting from the city. She is excited to have children her own age to play with, but when Rosie and Takeo arrive things don't go exactly as Lila imagines. They have cool hairstyles instead of a plain braid like Lila. They skateboard instead of biking. "Everything the cousins did was a little bit special," observes Lila after they show her how they make huge graffiti-inspired chalk-art outside. At dinner they ask for chopsticks, which Lila has never used and didn't even know her family owned. The cousins are never unkind-they style Lila's hair, take turns with the bike and skateboards, and give Lila tips on using chopsticks, but Lila still feels a bit inferior. After dark, Lila is excited to take her cousins for a walk and look for fireflies, but the cousins are nervous about being out at night and Lila again feels like an outsider. Lila's worry that her cousins don't enjoy the things she wants to share with them lasts throughout the visit, but doesn't make the story gloomy or heavy. The gentle plot captures the nuance of childhood friendships, and how small things can loom large for sensitive children like Lila. Yamasaki's lively mixed-media illustrations evoke strong feelings, and small background details reflect the author's own experience growing up as part of a large family. VERDICT A refreshing, reassuring, and honest story about family and friendship that stands out amid a sea of pat friendship stories.-Anna Haase Krueger, Ramsey County Library, MN

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.