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Fiction - African American, Fiction - Miscellaneous People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - General & Miscellaneous, Fiction - U. S. People, Places & Cultures, Fiction - Family Life
Two Mrs. Gibsons by Toyomi Igus — book cover

Two Mrs. Gibsons

by Toyomi Igus, Daryl Wells (Illustrator), Daryl Wells
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Overview

Two Mrs. Gibsons is author Toyomi Igus’s tender and touching tribute to the two most important women in her life, her Japanese mother and her African-American grandmother. In it, Toyomi celebrates the richness of growing up biracial. From her grandmother’s big bear hugs to her mother’s light caresses, from playing with her grandmother’s fancy Sunday-meetin’ hats to trying on her mother’s kimono, the author conveys the warmth of these special relationships.

The biracial daughter of an African American father and a Japanese mother fondly recalls growing up with her mother and her father's mother, two very different but equally loving women.

Synopsis

Two Mrs. Gibsons is author Toyomi Igus’s tender and touching tribute to the two most important women in her life, her Japanese mother and her African-American grandmother. In it, Toyomi celebrates the richness of growing up biracial. From her grandmother’s big bear hugs to her mother’s light caresses, from playing with her grandmother’s fancy Sunday-meetin’ hats to trying on her mother’s kimono, the author conveys the warmth of these special relationships.

Children's Literature

Love knows no boundaries. One little girl, Toyoni, the product of a biracial marriage, shows how two women from different parts of the world, Tennessee and Japan, affect her life. Although they are from different cultures the richness that she experiences binds them all together through their love for each other.

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Editorials

Children's Literature - Leila Toledo

Love knows no boundaries. One little girl, Toyoni, the product of a biracial marriage, shows how two women from different parts of the world, Tennessee and Japan, affect her life. Although they are from different cultures the richness that she experiences binds them all together through their love for each other.

School Library Journal

K-Gr 3A narrator describes her life growing up with her African American grandmother and Japanese mother. She contrasts the women's habits, attitudes, and personalities, and the activities she shares with each. The story is a loving mood piece, telling of strength through difference as together mother and grandmother provide a loving and nurturing environment. Igus's simple, affecting prose speaks directly to the heart and is well matched by Wells's warm, lush paintings. An aura of the suburban America of a few decades ago pervades these folksy illustrations, mirroring the text in both tone and detail. Multicultural in the best and most basic meaning of that much-abused term, Two Mrs. Gibsons will be prized for independent reading and group sharing.John Philbrook, San Francisco Public Library

Kirkus Reviews

In alternating passages, a young girl tells about two women she knew in her past, one an elderly African-American, the other a younger Japanese. Both of them are named Mrs. Gibson, and with each turn of the page, the suspense builds: Exactly who are these women? Even if older readers guess, younger readers will have the satisfaction of discovering that the narrator has been describing her Japanese mother and her African-American grandmother, Nanny, pointing out the differences in their cultures, yet showing the commonality of their love toward the girl. With a reassuring repetitive structure, this gentle book is both a memoir about Igus's real relatives and an understated tribute to the ability of people from widely different cultures to live together. Wells's colorful pictures have a matching warmth of spirit, along with an awkwardness of figure and perspective that gives them the look of folk art.

Book Details

Published
July 1, 2001
Publisher
Children's Book Press
Pages
32
Format
Paperback
ISBN
9780892391707

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