Sparking joy in the next generation

Can this tidying guru work her magic on your messy little monsters? By Emily Bearn

KIKI & JAX by Marie Kondo and Salina Yoon 40pp, Macmillan, £11.99

We have become used to picture books tackling grown-up themes. Stories about grief and recycling have become routine reading for the under-fives. Last month, Kate Milner’s It’s a No-Money Day explored the issue of food banks. Now, Marie Kondo’s Kiki & Jax introduces the young reader to a somewhat more privileged adult concern: the art of decluttering.

Kondo, the “international tidying consultant”, needs little introduction. Her uncompromising approach to an overstuffed wardrobe has been the subject of a bestselling book and a Netflix series, teaching us how to “transform cluttered homes into spaces of serenity, inspiration and joy”. The “transformational magic” of tidying has now inspired her first picture book. Co-written with Salina Yoon, it features two friends: Kiki, a squirrel who likes collecting, and Jax, an owl who likes sorting. As a result, the friendship (a thin allegory for marriage) comes under strain. Eventually, Kiki lets Jax help her sort her possessions into piles for keeping, donating, recycling and throwing away: “‘If it sparks joy in your heart,’ Jax said, ‘keep it! And if it doesn’t, thank it and let it go.’”

By the end, Kiki is playing happily in her uncluttered home, with her hoarding instincts expunged: “Now Kiki could find a place for things that mattered most, like her favourite books, extra-bubbly bubble baths…

[and] her best friend Jax.” (Kiki has also learnt to fold shirts the “KonMari Way”, standing them upright in the drawer – instructions for which are given on the back page.) I’ve a hunch that the “transformational magic” of tidying is that rare sort of magic that only grown-ups can see. But this is a charming and sweetly illustrated book, which might gently encourage young readers to put their building bricks back in the box.