I asked Rebecca Lee Kunz, Cherry Mo, C.G. Esperanza, Gracey Zhang, and Yuko Shimizu to each answer two questions and finish two sentence starters.
Hello, Yuko Shimizu! Congratulations on receiving a 2025 Caldecott Honor citation for Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains. I love hearing about the CALL. What was running through your heart when the committee was clapping and cheering for you?
Yuko Shimizu: Thank you so much! It was really hard to believe. It was hard to believe when The Cat Man of Aleppo was awarded a Caldecott Honor. I thought I used up all my luck. Then to win this for the second time was… just surreal.
Illustrators work alone sitting in front of our drawing table for months and months to finish one book. It is a time of never- ending doubt. My mind kept telling me nobody would read this book! Then I had to shake that thought off by telling myself, OK, maybe not, but I cannot control what people would do or not do. One thing I can control is that I can at least do my best. A bit of a sidetrack, but I mean, really, it is the best feeling ever. And, oh, yes, this time, I am CERTAIN I have used up all my luck.
What does a Caldecott Honor for Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains mean to you?
Yuko Shimizu: It is really an extremely well written (thank you, Anita!) wonderful story, not just, but also especially for, young girls. It shows us you can achieve anything you put your heart and soul into, and you can also be a good person who spends the rest of your life giving back to the community that gives you beauty, as Junko did for mountaineering.
I am so happy this award creates more chances that this wonderful story is read and inspires young kids that their dreams can be as high as Mt. Everest!
Please finish the following sentence starters:
Libraries give anyone, young or old, poor or wealthy, equal chance to be educated, about anything you want to learn/know about.
Picture books are a magic portal to the unknown world.
Borrow Up, Up, Ever Up! Junko Tabei: A Life in the Mountains from your school or public library. Whenever possible, please support independent bookshops.
