Perfect

Author Waka T. Brown and artist Yuko Jones join forces for this picture book about a young girl who learns to appreciate life’s imperfections when her grandmother teachers her about the Japanese art form kintsugi.

Miki Amelia Masuda liked everything in her life to be perfect. Her room was immaculately clean. She only ate round cookies, not the broken ones. And if a stuffed animal had a tear in it, she couldn't bear to look at it. So when she accidentally drops and breaks her favorite teacup, she’s devastated. How can a broken teacup ever be perfect again?

Days later, Miki's grandmother, Obaachan, presents Miki with the fixed teacup. But it’s not perfect! Each crack is highlighted by a gold streak of paint—almost as if to show off the imperfections!

What follows is one girl’s journey to understanding that life isn’t always perfect. Through the art of kintsugi, Waka and Yuko show readers—and Miki—that rips, cracks, and tears have their own stories to tell, ones that are meaningful in their own way.