Toto

In this personal-feeling work, Yum (Luli and the Language of Tea) dives into an experience of having a visible birthmark—and navigating being one’s full self. Largely grayscale illustrations in pencil, colored pencil, and watercolor visually foreground the birthmark, called Toto, on the child narrator’s forehead. As the book opens, the child wonders, “how I would look without Toto. Would I look pretty? Would I look plain?” The child’s cousin says that Toto’s presence “means I have a superpower,” while “Mom says it’s a kiss from an angel, a blessing.” Unwanted attention is nevertheless irksome: when people ask about Toto, “my face gets red and I cannot say a word.” For the start of school, the child’s mother cuts forehead-covering bangs. This means that new friend Niko doesn’t see Toto until the protagonist hangs upside down on the playground, where a surprised moment resolves into a new way of perceiving Toto. Yum finds words for myriad feelings around embodiment, giving readers language to consider their own experiences and imagine others’. Characters are portrayed with various skin tones. An author’s note concludes. Ages 4–8. Agent: Sean McCarthy, Sean McCarthy Literary. (Jan.)