So, I need to start this review by saying that I’ve never read Marie Kondo’s The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up. But, I am a pretty frequent purger around our house, which allows me to keep things *fairly* clutter- and mess-free… My children, however… not so much! We’ve got one who is just plain messy, and another who is a collector. So, I’m excited to read her Kiki and Jax: The Life-Changing Magic of Friendship, co-written and illustrated by Salina Yoon, with them (I’m sure we’ll revisit it a few times over the years) as I work to teach them about cleaning, tidying, and purging. It’ll be a long process, I know, but I’m always glad to have a book to go with something I’m attempting to teach!
In Kiki and Jax, we meet an unlikely pair of friends. Kiki is a squirrel who loves to collect things but never has a place to put anything, and Jax is an owl with a passion for sorting, tidying, and putting away. When Kiki’s mess gets in the way of their friendship, however, Jax comes to the rescue and helps Kiki find the space in her life (physically and emotionally) for play.
The story is simple, for sure, but illustrates the importance of cleaning up and what can happen when physical stuff and mess overtake your life and space. I had to laugh at some of the illustrations, because I have found the exact same collections in our four-year-old’s room before! Seriously, just a month ago I dug a TON of pinecones out from under her bed where she had stashed a collection… Here’s hoping this book will help us on our journey to keeping a tidier (and more pinecone-piece free…) house together!
As always, Salina Yoon’s illustrations are brightly colored and her characters friendly and relatable. I love how she’s illustrated various boxes and piles to give families ideas of how they can get rid of various items, and she cleverly used the back endpapers to show kids how they can fold shirts!
Tell me– have “KonMaried” your space yet? How did it go? And are your children on board?
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