I think that this book is very beautiful and highly educational, but I am a bit confused as to what the target audience is. The length and illustrations make me think that this book was created for a younger audience. However, the ending of the story threw me off, as it had the tone of an elder speaking to a young adult, mostly due to the language within the last few pages and the way they were written. They felt different than the rest of the book, and kind of out of place. In short, I appreciate that the author put energy into making a meaningful ending, but I would have liked for it to make sense with the rest of the book.
All that being said, there was a lot that I liked about this story! The main thing that I admired about this book was how the author put so much cultural detail into this story. The storytelling was so impressive that the book was truly brought to life, and readers get a solid glimpse at Japanese culture, and how it relates to the author personally. Lastly, including the list of Japanese words that have no direct translation at the end of the book was a great idea, and I'd say that it was my favorite part of the book. Bravo for that!

This is a wonderful representation of picture book that would be wonderful for older readers. Upper elementary students would be able to use this story to connect to social emotional themes in addition to exposure to another culture . The simplicity of the tale matched well with the collage and watercolor to great a smooth and mindful story that has the potential to be a jumping off point for many other topics from art to vocabulary to Japanese culture.

This picture book with its sparse text and beautifully textured, mixed media illustrations reflects on the author's connection to her father's culture and how that informs her in the present. While the concepts may go over children's heads, the illustrations provide an engaging look at the Japanese tradition of kintsugi, which provides a welcome message of not hiding our mistakes, but using them to express ourselves in learning from them.

The Vase With the Golden Cracks is not just a story about the art of making something broken beautiful again. The story tells of the author's father's love of words, and the love that he passed to his child. The watercolor illustrations are lovely. This is a book that children aged 6-10 could enjoy. I really like the little dictionary of Japanese words at the back of the book.

Thank you to NetGalley's Publisher Spotlight for making an ARC of this book available to me. Opinions expressed are my own.

I always want to see anything illustrated by Zuzanna Celej, and here she is as beautiful as ever, matching the beauty of this story—the idea that our scars are part of our story, worthy of gold—"kintsugi". I love the idea of this cracked vase that holds words, special words that don't have equivalents in any other language. Lucky for us, there's a list of these words at the end. I plan to spend some time with it.

A beautiful, timeless message set against absolutely stunning art. Our author begins by recalling how his father used to have a beautiful vase filled with Japanese words that aren't found in other languages. He looks forward to learning these words every day, until he accidentally knocks the vase over. But instead of disposing of it or scolding his son, the father simplys shares a new word: kintsugi. Kintsugi is the act of filling in the cracks of a broken item with gold, silver, etc. to salvage it and make it new again, but beautifully unique and different.

This is a heartfelt reminder that it's okay to be a little broken; you can still be beautiful and worth saving.

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing me with a free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

This was such a lovely little introduction to the Japanese craft of "kintsugi" as well as to the concept of "ikigai". In kintsugi, broken pottery is given a second life by gluing the pieces back together and then coating the glue in a gold powder, giving a new beauty to the cracks. This book featured beautiful illustrations and a story about the author learning about kintsugi from their father after breaking a vase that kept scraps of paper with special and unique Japanese words (a glossary of which are included at the end).

Conceptually, this story might be a little bit beyond what very young children can grasp. But I think it would make a wonderful introduction to Japanese culture for young readers maybe ages 7-9. I'll definitely be saving this book for my 5 year old nephew for when he gets a little older.

Thank you to Fran Nuño, Publisher Spotlight, and NetGalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this children's book!

The artwork in this book was absolutely stunning. I adored the explanation and use of Japanese words in a way that children could understand.

A beautiful story about how our scars can be our most beautiful parts, the enduring love of parents, the joy of unique words, and the beauty of the Japanese language. The illustrations are beautiful, calming, and perfectly fit the feel of the story.

I love the variety of language and how there can be things with different meanings that are translatable.