Chieri Uegaki, author of Suki's Kimono (illustrated by Montreal's Stéphane Jorisch), says she is happy and overwhelmed to be short-listed for the 2004 Ruth Schwartz Children's Book Award.
The national award for excellence in children's literature is adjudicated by the harshest critics of all (school children under the guidance of the Ontario Arts Council) and the $5,000 prize will be split between the author and illustrator of the winning book.
Suki's Kimono is Uegaki's first book, and since its release in the fall of 2003, the book has collected the IBBY Canadian Outstanding Picture Book award and the IRA Children's Book Award (Notable) in the Primary Fiction category. The book's publisher, Kids Can Press, is "very, very happy with this book's success," says Marketing Coordinator Carolyn Kim. "We're really looking forward to publishing Chieri's next book."
Uegaki's shelves in her Sechelt home built by her husband (with the 1,300 shingles Uegaki individually hand-painted) are full of children's classics, from Anne of Green Gables (a childhood gift from her mother and still a favourite) to Maurice Sendak's Higgledy Piggledy Pop, the ending of which almost moved her to tears.
"It makes me very happy to think that something I've written could conceivably touch someone and perhaps even become someone's favourite," says Uegaki. "Also, in writing picture books, it's very exciting to see how an artist's illustrations can double the pleasure of the whole book experience."
Jorisch's sensitive illustrations add to the charm of this joyful story about a little girl's celebration of her Japanese and Canadian heritage, embodied in her beloved blue kimono. A gift from her oba-chan, it holds special memories of her grandmother's recent visit - memories she shares vividly with her class on the first day of school.
Filled with gentle enthusiasm and a touch of whimsy, Suki's Kimono is the joyful story of a little girl whose spirit leads her to dance to her own drumbeat.
