Reibstein and Young have created a magnificent offering that is the embodiment of Wabi Sabi, incorporating all the elements listed above. But the more she looks, feels, and sees, her new affinity for the simplicity of nature and the elegance of what is brings her to her own poetry-and understanding. Hear that / splash? A frog’s jumped in.” Still, the cat is confused.

Some of the allusions are beautiful: “The pale moon resting / on foggy water. Each animal she visits gives a piece of the complicated puzzle. What’s Wabi Sabi? In this story, it’s the name of a brown cat, but in Japanese culture, it’s a feeling that finds beauty and harmony in “the simple, imperfect, natural, modest, and mysterious.” When visitors come to Kyoto, they ask the cat’s owner the meaning of her name Wabi Sabi hears it’s hard to explain, so she sets off on a journey to find the answer. Together, they illustrate the unique world view that is wabi sabi.Ī New York Times Best Illustrated Children’s Book for 2008! Caldecott Medal-winning artist Ed Young complements the lyrical text with breathtaking collages. Using spare text and haiku, Mark Reibstein weaves an extraordinary story about finding real beauty in unexpected places. This unsatisfying answer sets Wabi Sabi on a journey to uncover the meaning of her name, and on the way discovers what wabi sabi is: a Japanese philosophy of seeing beauty in simplicity, the ordinary, and the imperfect. Wabi Sabi, a little cat in Kyoto, Japan, had never thought much about her name until friends visiting from another land asked her owner what it meant.Īt last, the master says, “That’s hard to explain.” And The award-winning and New York Times bestselling book about a cat named Wabi Sabi who searches for the meaning of her name.

Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers Library Binding Edition (October 1, 2008)

Wabi sabi ed young