In this celebration of Japanese culture and family and naked bodies of all shapes and sizes, join a little girl — along with her aunties and grandmother — at a traditional bath house. Once there, the rituals leading up to the baths begin: hair washing, back scrubbing, and, finally, the wood barrel drumroll. Until, at last, it's time, and they ease their bodies — their creased bodies, newly sprouting bodies, saggy, jiggly bodies — into the bath. Ahhhhhh!

With a lyrical text and gorgeous illustrations, this picture book is based on Kyo Maclear's loving memories of childhood visits to Japan, and is an ode to the ties that bind generations of women together.(From Tundra Books)

The Big Bath House is a finalist for the 2022 Governor General's Literary Award for young people's literature — illustrated books. The winner will be announced on Nov. 16, 2022.

Kyo Maclear is an essayist, novelist and author of children's books. Her books have been translated into 15 languages, won a Governor General's Literary Award and been nominated for the TD Canadian Children's Literature Award, among others. Her memoir Birds Art Life was a finalist for the 2017 Hilary Weston Writers' Trust Prize for Nonfiction and won the 2018 Trillium Book Award.

Gracey Zhang is an author and illustrator from Vancouver, now based in New York. Lala's Words, her debut picture book, was published in 2021.