The Smile Shop
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- $7.99
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- $7.99
Publisher Description
Acclaimed author-illustrator Satoshi Kitamura (Hat Tricks) celebrates human connection and community in this hopeful story about a boy, a benevolent shopkeeper, and a shared smile.
A small boy has saved all his pocket money, and today's the day he'll buy something special just for himself!
There's lots to see and smell at the market, from tasty pies to colorful toys and noisy instruments. But before he can even make up his mind, disaster strikes, and he loses his money down a drain. Oh no! But wait, what's this? A store called the Smile Shop? Could he buy a smile? A small one, perhaps, to cheer himself?
Featuring charming, classic illustrations reminiscent of Maurice Sendak and Tomie dePaola, Satoshi Kitamura's The Smile Shop is an absorbing story of community, self-worth, and the effect of a smile shared between two people. An apt parable for a time when smiles and expressions of warmth are in high demand.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Kitamura (Hat Tricks) captures the endless interest of a bustling environment as an East Asian child with a fistful of coins wanders alone through a city's market and shops, planning "to buy myself something for the very first time." An apple pie draws the child to a baker's window; an appealing model ship ("Oh, what a beautiful little boat") is too expensive; a black hat "suits me head to toe." In a flash, though, a sidewalk mishap scatters the money, and the day's plans fizzle—until an encounter with an older Black shopkeeper redeems things. Throughout this simple story, shoppers, schoolchildren, buskers, and street sellers of various ages, ethnicities, and religions jostle one another along streets and sidewalks, all rendered in intricate ink and wash scenes. There's plenty to see in the shops, too: cakes and rolls, musical instruments, a wall of clocks ("I wonder which clock is telling the right time?"). Far from ruining the day, the loss allows the protagonist to change focus, from considering the city's myriad offerings to encountering its denizens' smiles alone—one precious thing, Kitamura hints, that doesn't cost any money. Ages 4–8.