Sumo Joe

Review
By Booklist

Looking suitably round and solid in Iwata’s simply drawn domestic scenes, gentle Joe wakes up to his little sister, Jo, jumping on the bed, and then he lumbers downstairs to build a dohy (ring) of pillows in the living room, cast salt on the rug as a blessing (one wonders if his parents approve), and, with two weedier friends, practice shiko (stomping) and other traditional sumo warmups and throws, while Jo goes off to aikido class. Wenjen…concludes this buoyant, partially rhymed episode with an illustrated glossary of special terms and a historical note that ties sumo to its Shinto origins.