In 1942, over 22,000 Japanese Canadians were forced to relocate, losing their homes, possessions and dreams in the name of National Security. Families were separated; communities lost. On Being Yukiko, a collaboration by artists and writers, Jeff Chiba Stearns and Lillian Michiko Blakey, tackles this dark and little known side of Canadian history in the format of a graphic novel. The strength of this book, beyond the unique synthesis of artistic styles, is in how one family’s narrative, told with honesty and love, is the story of so many children who have similar questions about identity, culture, intersectionality and their place in Canadian society. Storytelling as narrative history is transformative in understanding identity. On Being Yukiko is a beautiful rendition of one family’s history passed on by grandmother to granddaughter. But by extending the discussion of identity to mixed race children from many different backgrounds, Chiba Stearns and Michiko Blakey have created a book that parents, teachers and librarians will be recommending and discussing – and most important, a book that children will enjoy reading. Highly recommended for middle school students. Reccia Mandelcorn Aurora Public Library

Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy® nominated and multi award winning animation and documentary filmmaker, as well as an acclaimed author and illustrator. After graduating from the Emily Carr University with a degree in Film Animation, he founded Vancouver-based boutique animation studio and publishing company Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. in 2001. Jeff’s short and feature length films, including Yellow Sticky Notes (2007), One Big Hapa Family (2010) and Mixed Match (2016), have broadcast around the world, screened in hundreds of international film festivals and garnered dozens of awards. Being Yonsei, fourth generation Japanese Canadian, and having mixed Japanese and European roots, Jeff’s work often deals with themes of multiethnic identity. He coined the term Hapanimation to describe his style of blending anime and manga with a North American cartoon aesthetic. He has lectured and presented his films at over one hundred universities including Harvard, Cornell and Yale. In 2018, he wrote and illustrated his first picture book Mixed Critters, an ABC book inspired by his own children’s mixed Japanese backgrounds. Nori and His Delicious Dreams (2020), Jeff’s second children’s book, features a Japanese Canadian boy named Nori who dreams of sleeping in foods from around the world. In 2021, Jeff collaborated with Sansei artist Lillian Yano Blakey to create best-selling graphic novel On Being Yukiko. Jeff will be releasing his second graphic novel, Tomie: The Unyielding Spirit of Tomekichi Homma in 2025. He is currently writing and illustrating his next graphic novel Ojiichan’s Dragon, a fantasy based story that takes place in an internment camp in New Denver during WWII.

Publisher: Meditating Bunny Studio Inc.
Author: Jeff Chiba Stearns/Lillian Michiko Blakey
Illustrator: Jeff Chiba Stearns/Lillian Michiko Blakey
ISBN: 978-1-7752343-3-3
Size (H x W):
Weight:
Cover Type: Hardcover
Number of Pages: 56
Language: English
Date Published: 2021-01-01