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Anzu, a child of Japanese descent with beige skin and brown pigtails, loves doing origami with her Ojiisan (grandfather). However, Anzu feels out of place at her new school—even when the class starts an origami unit. Her teacher, who presents as Black, shows the students how to create different folds, but one child responds, “I already know how to fold paper!” Despite Anzu’s efforts, her classmates don’t share her passion and instead poke fun at her. Ojiisan encourages frustrated Anzu to be patient and to take things “step-by-step, fold-by-fold.” Anzu connects with one child—tan-skinned Alex—and together they make a kaeru, or frog. Anzu finally begins to understand her grandfather’s advice, and her classmates discover the joy of folding paper into objects that are meaningful to them. Takeyama uses a vibrant, primary palette to underscore Anzu’s emotional journey and depicts a diverse group of students. Hadley’s story, however, is simplistic. The other students never apologize for their initial behavior (indeed, early in the story, one girl even bows at her in what seems to be a mockery of Anzu’s Japanese heritage)—a missed opportunity to model empathy, respect, and understanding. Moreover, the friendships are one-sided, with Anzu doing all the work to try to connect with her classmates. (This book was reviewed digitally.)

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