Author Katie Yamasaki on the rippling effects of mothering

Henry Douglas 

CAMBRIDGE – Visual artist and author Katie Yamasaki spoke about representing social issues in literature and art, particularly in her new picture book, “Ripples,” at Porter Square Books in Cambridge, Mass.

“Kids learn how to care about … how to care for the environment, largely by the way they’re

cared for by their grownups,” said Yamasaki. “A lot of this is about collective care … Community.”

Yamasaki’s newest book, “Ripples,” follows a young girl and her aunt as they set out on a river

rafting trip, meeting friends and families and engaging in acts of care along the way. The two

make sure to clean the river of any litter they see along the way.

“I started thinking about mothering as more of a verb and an action, something that’s done by so

many people, and so many people who do not have children of their own.” She sees people and

children in her own life, mothering the Earth and the community around them.

“I work in women’s prisons, and a lot of my students did not receive the kind of mothering from

their home life … but they did receive care in some capacity that has enabled them to care for

other people in their environment … It’s a natural thing … I think it’s a part of all of us.” Yamasaki works with prisons to bring art to incarcerated individuals.

“[Art] can grow people’s agency on how they’re going through the experience of incarceration … It’s a very victimizing environment. But when you have space … to create something, that is

something that comes from inside and that can also provide you the agency to interpret your

environment.” In her books, Yamasaki provides representation for people, like incarcerated

individuals, who are at the margins of society.

“People often feel like, to make a book relatable, you have to make the character ‘universal’ …

But there is no universal experience, right? There are universal feelings. We may not know what

it’s like to have a parent in prison, but we do all know what it’s like to miss somebody.”