GENRE: **Diverse
WORDS: 498
Query:
Dear PBParty Judges, Agents, and Editors,
I am excited to share Kiko’s Broken Bowl, a 498-word story for ages 4 to 8. It is a book that showcases the Japanese art of mending broken pottery while gently introducing the experience of a loved one with dementia.
When Kiko’s grandmother begins to forget small things and the handmade bowl they created is suddenly broken, Kiko must learn what it means to hold on to love, even as things change.
Kiko treasures the bowl she and Obachan shaped together. Pressing, pausing, painting. She uses it every day, filling it with everything from miso soup to mac and cheese, even sleeping with it beside her. But lately, Obachan forgets where things belong. Then one morning, the bowl slips and shatters. As Kiko stares at the broken pieces, Obachan gently gathers them and introduces her to kintsugi: repairing with gold. Together, they mend the cracks, not by hiding them, but by honoring them. The next morning, Kiko holds her bowl again. Different, yet the same, and somehow even more meaningful.
I moved to Singapore in 2020 from San Francisco, but spent half of my life in Singapore and the US. I’m a proud third culture kid with a Filipino-Chinese and Japanese background. I am also a former editor at POPSUGAR, did marketing at Quora, and hold a Master’s in journalism from Northwestern University. I am a member of SCBWI and 12×12.
Thank you for your time and consideration. I feel so lucky to be here!
Excerpt:
Wrinkled hands covered tiny hands.
Pressing down on the creamy clay.
Sometimes Kiko and Obachan took a pause.
But when Obachan remembered, they began again.
Slowly they pressed.
They paused.
They painted.
They paused.
They glazed.
Kiko’s perfect bowl was born.
Kiko used it every day. She used it for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Natto and rice, miso soup, and even mac and cheese.
What inspired you to write this story & what do you have in common with it:
The story found its heart after a visit to Japan last year. My grandma developed dementia and our relationship shifted in a way I didn’t expect. She’s different from the grandma I remember growing up, but even with those changes, she and our relationship are still beautiful. She repeated the same things, but somehow I felt those were words of importance and there were some secrets behind it. So I brought her into my book. Life and memory may fracture, but love is the golden thread that keeps us together. I hope I manage to portray that through my story.
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