Every winter at Jigokudani in Nagano, Japanese macaques trek through the snow to a hot spring and settle in for a soak. In Bathtime for Snow Monkeys by Maggie Tokuda-Hall, illustrated by Yas Imamura, the troop has just got comfortable when a baby splashes in and ruins the calm, until a little grooming from its mother settles things.

The whole story is told in haiku. Imamura painted it in gouache and pastel crayon, all blues and ochres and falling snow, and an author's note at the back explains why the monkeys' pool was built by people.

Hardcover
32 pages
Ages 4–8