Out Now: When Cherry Blossoms Fall illustrated by Yas Imamura

Illustrated by Yas Imamura and written by Katrina Goldsaito, celebrate springtime and the beauty of life with this hopeful and inspiring picture book.

“We wait for so long, and when they finally come, the petals fall so quickly. Mono no aware, ne?”

“What does that mean, mono no aware?”

Little Yuna can’t wait for her great-grandmother’s cherry tree to bloom. She and her hībāchan spend each day outside, watching the tree’s flowers unfurl. But once the tree blooms, the moment is so brief before it loses its petals again—this is what her hībāchan calls mono no aware. It isn’t until her great grandmother—and the petals she loves—are gone that Yuna finally understands what the phrase really means: an awareness of something’s impermanence.

Readers will love pouring over these pages again and again!

“Decisive-feeling gouache and watercolor brushwork is delightfully tactile, the windblown grasses and cherry blossom explosions conveying nature through texture and movement in a thoughtful picture book that considers multiple seasons of ephemerality.” - Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review

When Cherry Blossoms Fall was published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers on February 10th, 2026. Get your copy here!

---

To work with Yas, get in contact with their agent Susan Penny here.