Two Mrs. Gibsons

Two Mrs. Gibsons is author Toyomi Igus's tender and touching tribute to the two most important women in her life—her Japanese mother and her African American grandmother. From memories of her grandmother's big bear hugs to her mother's light down-filled comforter hugs, from listening to her grandmother's lively spirituals to her mother's soft lullabies, from playing with her grandmother's fancy going-to-a-Sunday-meetin' hats to trying on her mother's kimono, Toyomi celebrates the joys and rich diversity of growing up biracial.

Toyomi Igus is the Editor and Publications Director at UCLA's Center for African American Studies, and the author of several books for children, including Two Mrs Gibsons, about her mixed-race childhood.  She lives with her family in Los Angeles, California

Daryl Wells is a painter and former art teacher for the Los Angeles Unified School District. She has worked with young people to create many public murals.A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, she is a native of Los Angeles, California.
 

Themes: Memoirs and Personla Narratives, Community, Family/Intergenerational,
Related Books: Going Back Home, i see the rhythm
 

"Igus's simple, affecting prose speaks directly to the heart and is well matched by Wells' warm, lush paintings … Multicultural in the best and most basic meaning of that much-abused term, Two Mrs. Gibsons will be prized for independent reading and group sharing." —School Library Journal

"This funny and touching story helps fill the void of books that realistically describe the positive experiences of biracial children." —Teaching Tolerance

"[T]his gentle book is both a memoir about Igus' real relatives and an understated tribute to the ability of people from widely different cultures to live together. Wells's colorful pictures have a matching warmth of spirit." —Kirkus Reviews

"Text and illustrations complement each other well in this story, warmly conveying the richness of the multiethnic experience." —MultiCultural Review

"The richness of traditional customs is accurately reflected both in the text and in the visual portrait of a family that happily embraces and celebrates the mix of two worlds." —San Francisco Chronicle