Book Bag
local_shipping Free Standard U.S. Shipping on all orders $25 or more
Sumo Joe
Author
Illustrator
Nat Iwata
Publication Date
June 11, 2019
Genre / Grade Band
Fiction / 2nd − 3rd
Language
English
Format
Picture Book
WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Description
In this sweet and funny story, Sumo Joe and his friends enjoy pretending to be sumo wrestlers. But when his little sister wants to join their boy-only game, what should Sumo Joe do?
On Saturday mornings, Sumo Joe is a gentle big brother to his little sister. But on Saturday afternoons, he and his friends are sumo wrestlers! They tie on makeshift mawashi belts, practice drills like teppo, and compete in their homemade dohyo ring. They even observe sumo's ultimate rule: no girls allowed! But when Sumo Joe's little sister wants to join in the fun, Sumo Joe is torn between the two things he's best at--sumo, and being a big brother. Fists, feet, and martial art forms collide in this sweet yet spirited rhyming story by author Mia Wenjen and illustrator Nat Iwata.
Publication date
June 11, 2019
Genre
Fiction
ISBN-13
9781620148020
Publisher
Lee & Low Books
BISAC categories
JUV051000 - Juvenile Fiction | Imagination & Play
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV032070 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Martial Arts
JUV057000 - Juvenile Fiction | Stories in Verse (see also Poetry)
JUV013070 - Juvenile Fiction | Family | Siblings
JUV032070 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Martial Arts
Library of Congress categories
Stories in rhyme
Wrestling
Aikido
Sumo
Wrestling
Aikido
Sumo
Kirkus
This is a refreshing new take on the martial arts genre.
Publishers Weekly
A sister eagerly wakes her big yet gentle older brother, "Sumo Joe." As the girl leaves, Joe welcomes two friends to "practice sumo!" in "the ring" (pillows in a circle), each wrapped in a mawashi. Wenjen describes their sumo moves in straightforward rhymes: "Hands on knees,/ leg raised slow,/ practice shiko." When the sister arrives home, she "wants to join/ boy-only place./ She's not allowed/ in sacred space." Joe hesitates (readers may bristle), but his sister breaks out her aikido skills: "Aikido Jo beats Sumo Joe!" Newcomers Wenjen and Iwata--who illustrates in a playfully expressive style--offer an affectionate story about good-natured sibling rivalry and refusing to be underestimated. Back matter includes an author's note and an illustrated glossary relating to sumo and aikido. Ages 5-6. (May)
Copyright 2019 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission. Mia Wenjen
Mia Wenjen enjoys boxing, gardening and yoga. Because Japanese cucumbers are not available where she lives, she sprouted them from seed and convinced her boxing gym friends to grow them as well. She lives in Boston, USA, with her husband, three children and Golden Retriever. She blogs on parenting, education and children's books at PragmaticMom.com and runs the nonprofit Multicultural Children's Book Day. Robert Sae-Heng is an illustrator and artist living in London, UK, with his fantastically large cheese plant, Elvis. He has Mexican and Thai origins, and spent his childhood on a tiny farm in Mexico. He first began using imagery to communicate because he spent his early years unable to hear. Robert now works with mixed media, combining hand-drawn elements with a digital finish.
More books like this