Yas Imamura (@yasimamura.bsky.social)

@kjmisme.bsky.social Sep 24, 2026, 2:35 PMReposted by @yasimamura.bsky.social

“Love in the Library,“ is a picture book by @maggietokudahall.bsky.social, with gorgeous illustrations by @yasimamura.bsky.social- a deeply human story, beautiful and moving, and as important now as ever. I highly recommend it.

A 2-page spread from “Love in the Library”-

Left page:
There was a word there described this, Tama knew: constant.
[illustration of Tama sitting in her bed in the internment camp]
Constant questions. Constant worries. Constant fear.

Right page:
But then, there was also George. George and his big smile were constant.
[illustration of George smiling with his hand on a book, at the library table.

@drdianeadventures.com Oct 10, 2026, 7:03 PMReposted by @yasimamura.bsky.social

A bedtime story in haiku? Yes, please.

Bath Time for Snow Monkeys @maggietokudahall.bsky.social @yasimamura.bsky.social

www.buzzsprout.com/2019975/epis...
youtu.be/WYrDsuhd4wE

#AdventuresInLearning #LearningThroughPlay #BookTok #PictureBookTok #Haiku #BedtimeBooks #MaggieTokudaHall #YasImamura

@maggietokudahall.bsky.social Sep 16, 2026, 2:54 PMReposted by @yasimamura.bsky.social

Bathtime for Snow Monkeys got its 3rd starred review today, from Shelf Awareness!

In which they correctly call @yasimamura.bsky.social's illustrations "glorious."

Bathtime for Snow Monkeys is an exquisite picture book by author Maggie Tokuda-Hall and illustrator Yas Imamura, the talented duo behind Love in the Library. It uses eloquent haiku and elegant illustrations to depict the warmth and tranquility experienced by a troop of macaques luxuriating in a mountain steam bath.

The opening haiku centers readers in the scene: "Mountains surround you./ This is Jigokudani,/ A park for macaques." Nihonzaru (snow monkeys, also called Japanese macaques) make their way through snow falling "thick and cold." The macaques pass "wet trees, slippery rocks--/ careful and quiet," before reaching the sulfurous-smelling hot springs. Here, snow monkeys huddle together; their "little red faces/ Peer out from brown, furry heads" while steam rises. They come here "to relax./ For clean fur and toasty soaks./ To be close to friends."

Until--splash!--one baby snow monkey in the onsen (soak bath) disturbs "the calm/ And others are cross." This baby "wants to play!/ But no one else does." Mama grooms her child with a reminder to "be mindful and hush," and as the baby settles in, the others do, too. "Snow drifts down," but the nihonzaru don't notice the wet flakes, because "they are warm and safe./ Doing what monkeys do best:/ Staying together."

Tokuda-Hall has created a series of blissfully serene, sure-handed haiku that advance a gentle, low-stakes narrative made deeper by extensive sensory details. Her choice to highlight the universal need for companionship and bonding makes this bath time feel comforting and familiar. Just like humans, her macaques "relax, snack, and occasionally have fights about who gets to sit where." In some important ways, however, they are different; for instance, snow monkeys "make up by picking lice out of each other's hair and eating them."

Imamura's glorious gouache and pastel crayon illustrations employ blues, ochers, and plenty of white snow to convey the heat of the pool and the chill of the landscape surrounding i…

@maggietokudahall.bsky.social Sep 15, 2026, 7:14 PMReposted by @yasimamura.bsky.social

Bathtime for Snow Monkeys officially goes on sale 10.13, and that means you still have time to preorder it from Mrs. Dalloways in Berkeley, or Green Bean in Portland, to have it signed by both @yasimamura.bsky.social and I AND get a print from the book!