Written by Catherine Little
Illustrated by Sae Kimura
Plumleaf Press
978-1-486936687
38 pp.
Ages 3-12
March 2022
I know many of us our preparing for our holiday celebrations and that those celebrations will take many forms. One celebration that will be observed very soon will be the Lunar New Year which will take place on January 22, 2023. Twelve in a Race may have come out earlier in 2022 but reviewing it now seems a perfect opportunity to get it some deserved attention before the upcoming Chinese New Year celebrations.
From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura |
Some started fast,others were slow.Courage and witswere tested from "Go!"Along raging rivers,over mountains and dunes,The animals ran formany moons.
From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura |
Toronto's Sae Kimura gives us illustrations that take us to a Chinese countryside of luscious, stylized plants and water. The landscape components are shaped with softness and give further movement to the racers. Even the clouds float with purpose and delicacy in the bright sky. Though I don't know why, I think Sae Kimura's Japanese heritage–she was born in Odawara, Japan–contributes to the tradition of the story of Twelve in a Race. She instills a traditional majesty to her characters and an art deco essence to her borders of meandering geometric shapes.
Toronto author Catherine Little tells me that she wrote Twelve in a Race to help her biracial son learn about the Chinese side of his heritage that didn’t portray Chinese culture as “foreign” and I believe that she has succeeded in doing so. The story honours the myth of the zodiac and makes it accessible for all children to learn a traditional story while finding themselves in it. Knowing your zodiac sign is just the beginning.
From Twelve in a Race by Catherine Little, illus. by Sae Kimura |
Thank you for your thoughtful review of Twelve in a Race!
ReplyDeleteMy pleasure! So glad I got to check it out.
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