As summer kicked off in earnest in the US with the long holiday weekend, I’ve been busy catching up on reading picture books that I somehow neglected to read and/or review when they first published, including today’s Perfect Picture Book.
Title: Broken
Written & Illustrated By: X. Fang
Publisher/Date: Tundra Books, an imprint of Penguin Random House Canada/2025
Suitable for Ages: 3-7
Themes/Topics: responsibility, remorse, guilt, repair, confession, intergenerational, cats, teacup, humor, SEL, diversity
Opening:
Let me tell you the story of the day I broke Ama’s cup.
Brief Synopsis: Mei Mei recounts the story of how she broke her grandmother’s teacup.
Links to Resources:
· Plan and host a tea party for your friends and/or family;
· Learn about “Kintsugi (also known as Kintsukuroi),… the Japanese art of repairing broken pottery with gold in order to highlight and show off the imperfections caused by the breakage” and follow the step-by-step directions to repair your own broken pottery.
Why I Like this Book:
With few words and amazing illustrations, Fang helps us feel Mei Mei’s emotional swings in this heartfelt book about owning up to our mistakes.
At the outset, Mei Mei lets readers know that this is a story about how she broke Ama’s cup. Set next to an easy chair, the cup clearly is a treasured possession, or at least a well-used one. The title, too, refers to the cup’s demise, it’s broken.
But does the title refer only to the cup? Is, perchance, young Mei Mei concerned that she’s broken a rule? Or her Ama’s trust in her? Or even a bond with Mimi, Ama’s pet cat? In other words, what, besides the cup, is broken?
In this kid-relatable story, Fang explores issues of guilt, concern that our actions may cause a loved one to reject us, and casting blame on an innocent party. Using very few words, Fang lets the graphite pencil and digitally-colored illustrations show readers the emotional toll of guilt and not facing the consequences of our actions.
Especially for the littlest listeners, letting the illustrations tell the bulk of the story will make Broken a beloved book to read and reread.
A Note about Craft:
First-person point-of-view plus addressing the reader directly (“Let me tell you” [emphasis added]) equals a sure way to engage the reader in this story, helping us empathize more with young Mei Mei.
This Perfect Picture Book entry is being added to Susanna Hill’s Perfect Picture Book list. Check out the other great picture books featured there!
Wander, Ponder, Write 