Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen

June 5, 2017
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.

May 1, 2017
Eight-year-old Japanese-American Jasmine Toguchi is tired of having to follow in the footsteps of her older sister, Sophie, who gets to do everything first.The extended Toguchi family gathers each year to celebrate New Year's Day. Some, like mean cousin Eddie and his family, just have to drive down from San Francisco. But beloved Obaachan flies all the way from Hiroshima, Japan. Sophie and Eddie, being the older cousins, are excited about the roles they will play this year, namely to help out with the preparations for mochi, a sweet and sticky rice dessert that traditionally is pounded by the men of the family and shaped by the women. This strikes Jasmine as unfair, so she sets out to prove to her family that she is strong enough to join in the task herself. She takes it upon herself to strengthen her muscles with weight lifting (with the baby cousins!) and hanging by her arms, but nothing seems to work. It's a thin plotline with little tension, but to populate it, Florence paints a lovely picture of a warm, extended family whose members truly care about one another and take each other seriously. Black-and-white sketches, liberally sprinkled through 13 short, easy-to-read chapters, help make the story understandable for the newest readers. Children looking for a window into a Japanese-American family and its New Year's customs will surely find one here. Book 2, Jasmine Toguchi, Super Sleuth, publishes simultaneously and perhaps will more fully develop its plot now that this effort has introduced the characters. A recipe for mochi is included. New readers thirsty for series fiction will look forward to more stories about Jasmine and her family. (Fiction. 5-9)

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June 1, 2017

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.

June 1, 2017
Grades 1-4 Jasmine Toguchi is excited about making mochi for New Year's Eve, as is tradition for her Japanese American family, but she's bummed because this is the first year her older sister will be allowed to help make the sweet rice treats, so Jasmine's going to be stuck babysitting her younger cousins. As her dutiful sister helps around the house, Jasmine tries to wrangle her way into helping make mochi by swinging the hammer with the men of the family! What follows is an adorable and heartwarming story about a kid who wants to feel special and do something first for once, along with a nice overview of a Japanese New Year celebration. This series opener focuses on New Year celebrations, and in subsequent series installments, the author, who is Japanese American, will focus on other traditional Japanese holidays; the next installment is centered on Girl's Day. Detailed ink spot illustrations enliven the text, and there's even a recipe in the back of the book for anyone who wants to try making mochi at home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2018
Every New Year, relatives gather at Jasmine's home to celebrate by making mochi, Japanese sweet rice cakes. Jasmine, eight, decides to break with tradition to become the first younger-than-ten helper. This series-starter 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.

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

September 1, 2017
Jasmine's favorite holiday is New Year's. Relatives gather at her home in Los Angeles to celebrate, and her beloved Obaachan comes all the way from Japan to visit. For two days, everyone pitches in to make mochi, the Japanese sweet rice cakes that are good luck to eat on New Year's. Everyone, that is, who is at least ten years old. This year, older sister Sophie will get to help the women roll the mochi, while cousin Eddie gets to help the men pound the rice in a stone bowl with the special (and heavy) wooden hammer. Eight-year-old Jasmine, however, will only get to baby-sit her little cousins. Bossy Sophie does everything first: school, learning to read, piano lessons (not that Jasmine wants to play the piano, but still). "Just once, I wished I could do something first." Deciding to break with tradition and be the first younger-than-ten helper and the first girl to pound the rice, Jasmine sets out to prove she's strong enough to lift that huge hammer and, with her sister's unexpected help, finds where her real strength lies. This first in a 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." jennifer m. brabander

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)