by Debbi Michiko Florence (Author) Elizabet Vukovic (Illustrator)
A Junior Library Guild Fall 2017 Selection
An Amazon's Best Children's Books of 2017
A Beverly Clearly Children's Choice Award Nominee
An Evanston Public Library's 101 Great Books for Kids List 2017
A Chicago Public Library's Best of the Best Books 2017
A 2017 Nerdy Book Club Award Winner
A We Are Kid Lit Collective 2019 Summer Reading List Pick
The first book in a new chapter book series featuring a spunky Japanese-American heroine!
Eight-year-old Jasmine Toguchi is a flamingo fan, tree climber, and top-notch mess-maker!
She's also tired of her big sister, Sophie, always getting to do things first. For once, Jasmine wishes SHE could do something before Sophie--something special, something different. The New Year approaches, and as the Toguchi family gathers in Los Angeles to celebrate, Jasmine is jealous that her sister gets to help roll mochi balls by hand with the women. Her mom says that Jasmine is still too young to join in, so she hatches a plan to help the men pound the mochi rice instead. Surely her sister has never done THAT before.
But pounding mochi is traditionally reserved for boys. And the mochi hammer is heavier than it looks. Can Jasmine build her case and her mochi-making muscles in time for New Year's Day?
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Gr 1-3-Jasmine Toguchi is anticipating the arrival of her family members for the New Year in sunny Los Angeles. Every year to celebrate, Jasmine's relatives spend all day making mochi, Japanese sweet rice cakes. Jasmine will have to wait two more years before she can assist with the mochi-tsuki, or mochi-making, with her grandma and aunties. Pounding the rice with the mochi hammer is a difficult feat that's reserved for the men in the family. But fearless Jasmine is determined to be the first girl and first person under 10 to help with the New Year preparations. Obaachan, Jasmine's grandmother, encourages her to be patient, while mean cousin Eddie relentlessly taunts the girl. In this new early chapter book series, Florence introduces readers to a bright character who is grappling with respecting authority while also forging her own path. Vukovic's illustrations are expressive and imbue Jasmine and the Toguchi family with sweetness. VERDICT This first entry nicely balances humor with the challenges of growing up; readers will devour it.--Claire Moore, Manhattan Beach Library, CA
Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Jasmine Toguchi's Japanese-American family is once again gathering to make mochi to celebrate the new year, but the eight-year-old isn't allowed to help pound the mochi: she's too small, too weak, too young--and a girl. Florence (the Dorothy and Toto series) warmly traces Jasmine's efforts to get strong (and fast), her clashes and tender moments with her family, and the ins and outs of making mochi (a recipe is included). Vukovic's b&w spot illustrations evoke Japanese Sumi-e painting while playfully capturing Jasmine's willfulness and her family's closeness. Simultaneously available: Jasmine Toguchi, Super Sleuth. Ages 6-9. Author's agent: Tricia Lawrence, Erin Murphy Literary. Illustrator's agency: Shannon Associates. (July)
Copyright 2017 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Florence paints a lovely picture of a warm, extended family whose members truly care about one another and take each other seriously...New readers thirsty for series fiction will look forward to more stories about Jasmine and her family. —Kirkus
The Toguchi family's warmth and affection for one another will leave readers eager to spend more time with them. —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
This first in the series handily introduces a plucky, strong-willed girl whose family traditions may be new to many readers but whose frustrations will be familiar to nearly all. Humorous illustrations help young audiences picture the mochi-making process, which is further explained in an author's note. Also appended: a recipe for 'microwave mochi.' —The Horn Book