Island of Hope and Sorrow: The Story of Grosse Île written by Anne Renaud

I'm glad to be taking part in the fourth Nonfiction Monday roundup, hosted at Picture Book of the Day.

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 24 pages
Publisher: Lobster Press (May 25, 2007)

I’ll be the first to admit that I don’t know very much at all about Canadian history, so I was excited when I received a copy of Island of Hope and Sorrow: The Story of Grosse Île the first book in Lobster Press’s Canadian Immigration Series.

Organized into different time periods, the book tells us the story of the island, from its first use as a quarantine station for cholera in the early 1800’s to a biological weapons research site during WWII to its opening to the public as a historic site in 1988. Perhaps the most compelling part of the book is the story of Grosse Île’s function as a quarantine site and hospital to care first for European immigrants with cholera and then immigrants struck with typhus as they traveled to Canada on cramped and unsanitary “coffin ships” in attempt to escape the Irish Potato Famine. Located 50 km from Quebec, this was an ideal location to quarantine and treat the sick immigrants and prevent the illnesses from spreading to the colonies. We learn in the book whether or not this was successful and also how, over time, the island advanced.

In addition to the main narrative, the book is loaded with images, journal entries, timelines, posters, and more that give readers a better idea of life on Grosse Île. In addition, a “History Note” sidebar on nearly every page gives tidbits of historical information.

Presenting a human face to immigration, this would make an excellent choice for anyone wanting to learn or teach about immigration, Canadian history, epidemics, and more.

Lookout for the second book in the Canadian Immigration Series: Pier 21: Stories from Near and Far due out in April, which I’ll be reviewing soon.

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata

Cross posted at The Newbery Project

Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata
2005 Newbery Medal Book

Genre: Young Adult Fiction
Reading level: Ages 10-14
Paperback: 272 pages
Publisher: Aladdin (December 26, 2006)

Kira-Kira is my second book finished for the Young Adult Challenge hosted at Thoughts of Joy. Before I get into the review, I just want to say how much I’m enjoying getting back into Young Adult literature after quite a long hiatus. Aside from the Harry Potter series, I went many many years without reading YA literature, and I’m so glad this blog has inspired me to start reading this genre again. Now, on with the review.

Kira-Kira is the story of the Japanese-American Takeshima family, told from the point of view of Katie, the youngest daughter. We learn in the opening passage of the story that Kira-Kira means “glittering” in Japanese, and that it was Katie’s first word, taught to her by her older sister Lynn. It’s obvious from the beginning that Katie adores Lynn.

Born in Iowa to Japanese immigrants, Katie and Lynn have a nice childhood, but everything changes when the family’s oriental food store goes out of business, and they move to Georgia to become factory workers in a poultry processing plant. It’s here that Katie realizes for the first time that she is different. Shunned by the white Georgians, the Japanese community in Georgia is tight knit, but life is very difficult. Katie and Lynn’s parents work extremely long hours under harsh conditions. Katie and Lynn rarely see their father, and when they do, he’s exhausted. Their mother is forced to wear “pads” because bathroom breaks are not allowed in the factory. When their baby brother, Sammy, is born, the girls and a next door neighbor pretty much raise him. Just when things can’t get worse, Lynn becomes very ill, and the family’s bonds are tested.

This heart wrenching story is one that I will soon not forget. Cynthia Kadohata expertly gets into the mind of a girl Katie’s age who has to deal with some very adult situations but does not quite understand them. An example of this is when Lynn is very ill, and despite appearing very strong and brave in front of Lynn, Katie needs a moment alone and breaks down:

“I cried and cried. For a while as I cried I hated my parents, as if it were their fault Lynn was sick. Then I cried because I loved my parents so much. Then I didn’t feel like crying anymore. I just felt barren, my eyes felt dry. They sky was still gray. Everything was gray, the sky and the store and even my hand when I held it out in front of myself. I wondered in anyone else in history had ever been as sad as I was at that moment” (p. 199).

We also see racism, prejudice, and the unfair treatment of the factory workers through Katie’s eyes. While some have criticized this book and being slow and uninteresting for young adults, it would have been right up my alley when I was younger. Certainly, it’s not for every kid and may appeal more to girls than boys, but it’s a story that I think will impact many. It was completely deserving of its 2005 Newbery Medal win.

What Other Bloggers Are Saying:

In Spring it is the Dawn: "It was a moving story and I enjoyed hearing it through the voice of young Katie. It might not be full of action but it kept me turning the pages, wanting to read on about the family’s problems and how they coped with them. I came to care about the family, especially the sisters, and wanted to see how things turned out." (read more...)

If you have a review of Kira-Kira, leave a comment with the link, and I'll post it here!

Matthew Arnold: Romantic Modern (Poetry Friday)

In 1851, Matthew Arnold became a school inspector, a job he had until just two years before his death in 1888. This job initially required a great deal of travel over long distances--something that had only recently been made possible by the development of the rail system. So while Arnold thought of his job as "drudgery," it allowed him to see more of England than any writer before him. And when Arnold was not working, he invariably was writing.

Fittingly, Arnold's poetry is often seen as transitory between Wordworthian romanticism and a more pessimistic modernism. And personally he was also reputed to be a hybrid of the two. As a conversationalist he was exciting and witty; as a writer he was serious and melancholic. G. W. E. Russell called him "a man of the world entirely free from worldliness and a man of letters without the faintest trace of pedantry."

One of the products of Arnold's literary itinerancy is "Dover Beach" thought to be one of the first poetic examples of modernism. The poem makes its own journey from a peaceful, romantic landscape to a modern crisis of faith: the traditional certainties recede with the sea. The final holdouts against this withdrawal are lovers--lonely in their own way, with nothing left to believe in but each other.

Despite its sadness, there are few things I love more than this transition: the way Arnold suddenly focuses on and magnifies one part of a romantic landscape--the metamorphosis of a calm sea into the "grating roar" of pebbles and then into the "ignorant" clash of armies. The lovers are a sad attempt to return to the steadfastness of the cliffs, their "tranquil" containment of water. The distinctly modern element here is the change in the meaning of the natural world, and where it is that we seek our solace. Viewed through the lens of "certitude," the world is a kind of foundation--a testament to collective belief; viewed otherwise it is dangerous and unsettled, and we are left only with the fragility of human bonds.

Trivia: in what famous science fiction novel does this poem appear?

DOVER BEACH

By Matthew Arnold

The sea is calm tonight,
The tide is full, the moon lies fair
Upon the straits; on the French coast the light
Gleams and is gone; the cliffs of England stand,
Glimmering and vast, out in the tranquil bay.
Come to the window, sweet is the night air!

Only, from the long line of spray
Where the sea meets the moon-blanched land,
Listen! you hear the grating roar
Of pebbles which the waves draw back, and fling,
At their return, up the high strand,
Begin, and cease, and then again begin,
With tremulous cadence slow, and bring
The eternal note of sadness in.

Sophocles long ago
Heard it on the Agean, and it brought
Into his mind the turbid ebb and flow
Of human misery; we
Find also in the sound a thought,
Hearing it by this distant northern sea.

The Sea of Faith
Was once, too, at the full, and round earth's shore
Lay like the folds of a bright girdle furled.
But now I only hear
Its melancholy, long, withdrawing roar,
Retreating, to the breath
Of the night wind, down the vast edges drear
And naked shingles of the world.

Ah, love, let us be true
To one another! for the world, which seems
To lie before us like a land of dreams,
So various, so beautiful, so new,
Hath really neither joy, nor love, nor light,
Nor certitude, nor peace, nor help for pain;
And we are here as on a darkling plain
Swept with confused alarms of struggle and flight,
Where ignorant armies clash by night.

1867

Click here for the Poetry Friday roundup, hosted by Hip Writer Mama

Interview with Catherine Ipcizade

I recently had the opportunity to interview Catherine Ipcizade (pronounced ip-chi-zah-deh), author of recently released 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day, a very cute book written in verse adapted from 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.

Read my review here.




Thanks, Catherine, for taking the time to talk!

What inspired you to write 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day?
A few things actually inspired me to write the book. Watching my own kids and the kids in my son's classroom "eat up" information about animals was exciting. They'd pick up any book that had an animal on the cover and devour it. But I quickly realized books fell into one of two categories--either they were exaggerated fiction or they were strictly non-fiction. All too often, the kids would pick up a book expecting one thing and be disappointed with too much "over their head" information. So I decided to do something a little different--to put a clever twist on non-fiction and to create a factually correct but entertaining book about animals. Sylvan Dell was the perfect publisher for the book because their books inform while entertaining.


Do you have a favorite zoo animal or a favorite zoo? Did you use a specific zoo(s) for inspiration when writing 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day?
Ooh! Good question! I DO have a favorite zoo animal--giraffes! I've learned so much about them. For example, did you that giraffes have slimy, blue tongues that can reach 18 inches in length? And did you know that one the reasons their tongues are blue is to prevent them from getting a sunburn, since they spend so many hours eating each day? :)

In answer to your zoo question, I love all zoos. I think, no matter how big or small they are, they all have something special to offer and teach us. However, in my own area, I love the San Diego Zoo. You can't beat the setting and the wide array of animals. In some way, all the zoos I've visited throughout the my lifetime (San Diego Zoo, Orange County Zoo, Santa Ana Zoo, Phoenix Zoo, etc) provided inspiration for the book. All you have to do is take a walk around the zoo or take the tram tour and you'll see amazing things--lazy rhinos "tanning n the sun," monkeys hanging every which way, zebras in groups, appearing to "talk," etc. Once, at the San Diego Zoo, we passed a group of monkeys frolicking in the grass. One mother monkey was holding her baby and looking at the tram in this, "stay away, folks" kind of way. It reminded me that all creatures protect their young...and that message found its way into 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day!


What was your first impression of the illustrations when you first saw them?












I adored the illustrations from the start. I had envisioned bright, bold illustrations for this book, and Ben Hodson couldn't have done a more amazing job. I was particularly amazed with the animal facial expressions--he captured the essence of the story flawlessly and added such clever twists to the text!




What do you love about writing? What is it about children's books you love?
I love writing because I loved reading. As a child, I read everything I could get my hands on--I'd even sneak hardware catalogs out of the Sunday paper and read them under my covers at night with a flashlight when I couldn't find anything else--it's true! Personally, I love to write because it's a creative release for my soul. I love writing children's books because they allow children to imagine themselves somewhere else, with character like themselves or completely different than themselves. Children's books are magical--writing them allows me to remember what it's like to be a kid, to imagine without boundaries.


What authors and/or books have influenced you the most?
When I was a kid myself, I couldn't get enough of Dr. Seuss. I must have read One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish about a million times. In elementary school, I loved the Serendipity books, and those little Beatrix Potter books. As I got older, I became entranced with Island of the Blue Dolphins, by Scott O'Dell, A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle, and Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott. And Judy Blume books! Oh, I devoured them every chance I got--brilliant! All decidedly different, these books had one thing in common--they reached me somehow, on some level, enough that they somehow became a part of me.


When you're not writing, what can we find you doing?
Besides writing, I'm the mom to two lovely kids, ages seven and four. I'm also back in school, working toward my Master's Degree in Education. In my spare time, you'll often find me with my camera, taking lots and lots of pictures, or in my kitchen--this writer LOVES to cook!


What can we expect to see from you next?
Ooh, lots of things are in the works. I just had three books released from Capstone Press (African Animals: Giraffes; African Animals: Lions ; African Animals: Zebras), which were a lot of fun to write. I'm currently submitting a picture book about a mischievous elf in a library and switching genres a bit to work on a novel-in-verse for middle-grade readers. I'm also working on some greeting cards for the adult market--the life of a writer is never dull!

Thanks for hosting me. It's been wonderful "chatting" with you.


No, thank YOU Catherine, and best wishes!

Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! by Barbara Park; illustrated by Viviana Garofoli

Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from your Baby-in-Waiting by Barbara Park; illustrated by Viviana Garofoli

Reading level: Ages 4-8
Hardcover: 40 pages
Publisher: Random House Books for Young Readers (January 22, 2008)


When I was pregnant with my daughter, I often talked to her when I felt a kick, roll, or other movement. “What’s going on in there, baby girl? Are you playing soccer? Doing gymnastics?” It was fun to make up these funny scenarios and helped me “humanize” this child I hadn’t yet seen except via ultrasound where she kind of resembled Skeletor. Other expectant mothers I knew did similar things, and I’m sure I would have appreciated Barbara Parks’ latest book, “Ma! There’s Nothing to Do Here!” that’s told from the perspective of a child in utero about to be born.

The cramped child is quite bored with nothing to do. There are “No puppies. No toys. No girls…zero boys. Not a sandbox or swings…Or those monkey bar things. Not a park or a zoo.” The child imagines what life will be like when he/she is finally born and will have lots of stuff to do; even growing hair sounds like fun.

Parks' whimsical, rhyming text and Garofoli’s funny and vibrant illustrations will make expectant parents chuckle and even feel the warm fuzzies when the baby mentions listening to its mother’s “happy heart clock.” And children who are getting ready to be big brothers or sisters will be sure to laugh out loud, especially at the visual of the baby riding in a canoe and unsuccessfully playing peek-a-boo with himself/herself. You may have to explain the “bungee cord” joke if you haven’t talked about it already.

I like to give books for baby shower gifts, and this is one I’m definitely adding to my list.

Speaking of which, do you have any books you love to give to new or expectant parents?

Other Blog Reviews:
Comics in the Classroom
Three Silly Chicks

Children's Books About Voting, Elections, etc.

I went to my polling place this morning to cast my vote for the presidential candidate, and I was a little depressed at the turnout. I live in a highly populated area, and when one person is standing in line in front of me, it makes me wonder why people choose not to vote. I always make an effort to vote, partly because I know it's my civic duty and I want to make my voice hear and partly because I want to honor all of the hard work of so many people who fought so hard to get women the right to vote.

I also wondered what children's books were out there on the topic of voting, elections, suffrage, etc.

Here's what I found:

Vote! by Eileen Christelow
From Booklist: "The words are straightforward, the art whimsical and creative, and two darling dogs provide color commentary on the action. The frame story is a mayoral election in which the mother of a young, African American named Angela Johnson is one of the candidates. The book follows the action from political rallies, fund-raisers, and debates through the election, ending with a successful recount. Along the way, all the pertinent questions are asked and answered: What is voting? Why doesn't everyone vote? Who decided who can vote?"

Presidential Elections: And Other Cool Facts by Sly Sobel

From Amazon.com: "Which three pairs of relatives have been U.S. presidents? What is the electoral college? What's a caucus? How often has the vice president become president? The answers to these and many other questions about the presidential elections are revealed in this quick, friendly read..."



The Ballot Box Battle (Dragonfly Books) by Emily Arnold Mccully
From School Library Journal: "History, the subtle and not-so-subtle oppression of women, and the redoubtable character of Elizabeth Cady Stanton are made real and alive in this colorfully illustrated story set in the summer of 1880."






A Long Way to Go: A Story of Women's Right to Vote by Zibby O'Neal

From School Library Journal: "A wealthy New York City household is disrupted when 10-year-old Lila's very proper grandmother is arrested for picketing the White House for women's suffrage. The year is 1917, the U. S. is at war, and the general feeling is that President Wilson has enough on his mind without the rantings of these outspoken society women."



Fannie Lou Hamer: Fighting for the Right to Vote (African-American Biographies) by Laura Baskes Litwin

From Amazon: "A biography of the civil rights activist who devoted her life to helping blacks register to vote and gain a national political voice."






The Fifteenth Amendment: African-American Men's Right to Vote by Susan Banfield

From Amazon: Examines the Amendment which gave African-American men the right to vote and discusses the struggle that took place to regain this right when it was denied.





So, tell me...why do you vote? Do you do anything to teach your children about the importance of voting? Are there other books out there you love?

Nonfiction Monday: Let's Go! The Story of Getting From There to Here by Lizann Flatt, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt, illustrated by Scot Ritchie

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 40 pages
• Publisher: Maple Tree Press (September 28, 2007)

Sometimes when traffic is heavily jammed on the highway during my morning commute, I take an alternate route to my Alexandria, VA office past George Washington's Mt. Vernon Estate. That leg of my route is only eight miles long and takes about 15 minutes, but I often wonder how long it took Washington to travel the same distance to do business in Alexandria. Certainly, the roads weren't paved and he didn't have a car. Did he encounter danger along the way? Who traveled with him? It makes me appreciate the fact that technology has enabled us for the most part to travel great distances quickly and safely. But it took quite a while and numerous inventions and innovations to get us where we are today.

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt and illustrated by Scot Ritchie tells the story of transportation from the Ice Age to today and beyond. Through the book we see the first travelers who migrate to North America on foot carrying backpacks and pulling their possessions in travois. We see European ships arriving carrying horses which become a major mode of transportation for quite some time. We see the invention of the steam engine, trains, streetcars, cars, and airplanes. How will we get around in the future? Flatt poses this question in the end. Will space travel become as common as automobile travel?

Without overwhelming readers in detail, Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here gives a fantastic introduction to all of the different modes of transportation. Readers get just enough information in the text to learn the basics about the featured mode of transportation.

For example:

"A noise up above! Machines in the air! Propeller planes skipped through the skies. Landing on lonely lakes like giant geese, bushplanes buzzed in with supplies and the mail. "

With details down to the type of clothing people wore during the time period, children will enjoy all of Scot Ritchie's vibrant illustrations that provide an even clearer picture of the different types of transportation and the people who used it. Children will also have fun finding the dog that appears in each spread.

The back of the book features a "Did You Know" section with even more information.

Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here would be an excellent resource for a social studies classroom and a great book to spark discussion.

Other Blog Reviews:
Miss Rumphius Effect

Be sure to check out the rest of Nonfiction Monday at Picture Book of the Day.

The Week Ahead

In the upcoming week, I'm going to be offering a variety of reviews plus an author interview.

Monday: I will be reviewing Cybil Nonfiction Picture Book Finalist, Let's Go!: The Story of Getting from There to Here by Lizann Flatt. From Amazon: This book takes us on an amazing journey across our continent and through time to discover all the methods humans have used to get from one place to another.

Tuesday: I'll offer up some learning resources for Let's Go.

Wednesday: I'll be reviewing Ma! There's Nothing to Do Here! A Word from your Baby-in-Waiting by Barbara Park. Expectant parents and siblings will get lots of laughs from this book written from the perspective of a baby about to be born.

Thursday: I'll give more book recommendations for expectant parents and for children who are getting ready to become a big brother or big sister.

Friday: First, I'll review the 2006 Newbery Medal Book, Kira-Kira by Cynthia Kadohata. This is a touching story for young adults about the life of a Japanese-American family in the 1950's.

Next, I'll be featuring my recent interview with Catherine Ipcizade, author of 'Twas the Day Before Zoo Day. Find my review here.

Finally, I'll be taking part in Poetry Friday, hosted at Hip Writer Mama.

Hope to see you next week!

The Turtle and the Deep Blue Sky by Elizabeth and Eric Zimmer

The Turtle and the Deep Blue Skywritten by Elizabeth Zimmer; illustrated by Eric Zimmer

Reading level: Ages 3 and up
Publisher: Fulcrum Publishing (September 2007)

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to be someone else for just a little while? Perhaps you've wondered what it's like to be an animal. I know I have, and that's the premise of The Turtle and the Deep Blue Sky, the debut picture book of husband and wife team Elizabeth and Eric Zimmer.

It all starts when a turtle who is feeling rather bored and uncomfortably hot in his bulky shell longs to "feel the cool breeze that was moving the clouds above." He borrows wings from a flamingo who begins to feel vulnerable without her wings and borrows quills from a porcupine. So begins a series of trades between animals who enjoy their new features until they see their old features on other animals and develop an appreciation for what they were born with.

Kids will be sure to laugh out loud at the silliness of a fish wearing peacock feathers, a porcupine wearing wool, and more. This charming story would make a great read aloud for younger kids and allows for many discussion opportunities, from animal features to feeling comfortable in your own skin. It also makes me eager to see what's next from the Zimmers who live "in an old sugar beet factory with their young son, Finn."

Poetry Friday: Auden's SEPTEMBER 1, 1939

(Jill has kindly asked me to guest-blog for her--I'm honored and hope you enjoy today's Poetry Friday selection-- Wes).

On September 1, 1939, Hitler invaded Poland and kicked off WWII. The following poem is Auden's response. It has received a lot of attention because of its eerie resonance with September 11: the juxtaposition of New York City, September, tall buildings, death, and war. It has also been criticized for sentimentality and "moral equivalence."

I'm touched especially (although many of course will be offended) by the idea that there is a premonition of violence and authoritarianism in the ambition and bustle of the city: "the lie of Authority\Whose buildings grope the sky". But then there are, despite the darkness of the poem, quasi-hopeful juxtapositions: "Ironic points of light"; "despair" and "affirmation"; "Eros" and "dust."

SEPTEMBER 1, 1939
by W.H. Auden

I sit in one of the dives
On Fifty-second Street
Uncertain and afraid
As the clever hopes expire
Of a low dishonest decade:
Waves of anger and fear
Circulate over the bright
And darkened lands of the earth,
Obsessing our private lives;
The unmentionable odour of death
Offends the September night.

Accurate scholarship can
Unearth the whole offence
From Luther until now
That has driven a culture mad,
Find what occurred at Linz,
What huge imago made
A psychopathic god:
I and the public know
What all schoolchildren learn,
Those to whom evil is done
Do evil in return.

Exiled Thucydides knew
All that a speech can say
About Democracy,
And what dictators do,
The elderly rubbish they talk
To an apathetic grave;
Analysed all in his book,
The enlightenment driven away,
The habit-forming pain,
Mismanagement and grief:
We must suffer them all again.

Into this neutral air
Where blind skyscrapers use
Their full height to proclaim
The strength of Collective Man,
Each language pours its vain
Competitive excuse:
But who can live for long
In an euphoric dream;
Out of the mirror they stare,
Imperialism's face
And the international wrong.

Faces along the bar
Cling to their average day:
The lights must never go out,
The music must always play,
All the conventions conspire
To make this fort assume
The furniture of home;
Lest we should see where we are,
Lost in a haunted wood,
Children afraid of the night
Who have never been happy or good.

The windiest militant trash
Important Persons shout
Is not so crude as our wish:
What mad Nijinsky wrote
About Diaghilev
Is true of the normal heart;
For the error bred in the bone
Of each woman and each man
Craves what it cannot have,
Not universal love
But to be loved alone.

From the conservative dark
Into the ethical life
The dense commuters come,
Repeating their morning vow;
'I will be true to the wife,
I'll concentrate more on my work,'
And helpless governors wake
To resume their compulsory game:
Who can release them now,
Who can reach the dead,
Who can speak for the dumb?

All I have is a voice
To undo the folded lie,
The romantic lie in the brain
Of the sensual man-in-the-street
And the lie of Authority
Whose buildings grope the sky:
There is no such thing as the State
And no one exists alone;
Hunger allows no choice
To the citizen or the police;
We must love one another or die.

Defenseless under the night
Our world in stupor lies;
Yet, dotted everywhere,
Ironic points of light
Flash out wherever the Just
Exchange their messages:
May I, composed like them
Of Eros and of dust,
Beleaguered by the same
Negation and despair,
Show an affirming flame.

Check out the rest of the poetry friday roundup at AmoXcalli

Hiromi's Hands: Supplemental Learning Resources

There are a number of directions you can go with Hiromi's Hands,the true story of one of the first female sushi chefs in the United States (see my review here). I pulled together a few web resources that teach more about Japanese culture.





Japanese Poetry:

• Haiku
• Tanka

Japanese History and Geography:

• Japan Past & Present
• Mapping Japan

Japanese Cuisine:

• Japanese Food & Etiquette (for 2ndGraders)
• Sushi and Sashimi Glossary
• Sushi Masters
• How to Make Sushi (I'm not brave enough to try, but you may be!)

Hiromi's Hands by Lynne Barasch

Reading level: Ages 9-12
Hardcover: 30 pages
Publisher: Lee & Low Books (March 2007)

Whenever I go into a sushi restaurant, I always admire the art of sushi making and the dedication of the sushi chefs who so carefully practice their craft. I have not however, ever seen a female sushi chef, so when I received a copy of Hiromi's Hands, I was very eager to read it.

Told from the point of view of Hiromi, the story starts in Japan when her father was a young boy apprenticed to a sushi chef. After many years of training and practice, he gets the opportunity to be a sushi chef in the United States, where he settles, meets his wife, and has a daughter, Hiromi. Hiromi's father works very long hours, and when she gets older, she convinces her father to take her along to the fish market and then to his restaurant. Soon, she's a sushi chef in training and eventually becomes one of the first female sushi chefs in the United States.

Along the way we learn a little about Japanese culture and traditions as Hiromi attends Japanese school on the weekends. We also learn what hard work it takes to become a sushi chef. Lynne Barasch's ink and watercolor illustrations of yummy sushi make me hungry, but I would have liked to have seen real pictures of the Suzuki's, especially since Hiromi is a lifelong friend of Barasch's daughter.

Overall, this is a good book that many children will enjoy and would make a good choice for introducing Japanese culture and also introducing stories of successful women who dared to break the mold.

The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain Learning Resources

Whether you're a teacher presenting a lesson on the Cold War, the Berlin Wall, or totalitarian regimes or a parent wanting to give your child an engaging historical autobiography to read, The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain would make an excellent choice. For more information about the book, read my review and find links to other blog reviews here.

As I mentioned in my review, I think older kids (9 and up) would get the most benefit and understanding out of the book, but don't let that sway you from telling the story to younger kids. I even recommend using it as a supplementary resource for teenagers who are learning about the Cold War. Don't let the fact that it's a "picture book" sway you from using this with older kids because the colors and presentation are mature, and there is a great deal of basic information about the era.

Here are a few learning resources you can use to expand upon the book.

First, check out this teacher's guide from Peter Sis's website.

Next, here some websites where you can get more information about the Cold War and the Berlin Wall:

• Cold War Museum
• History Learning Site
• Berlin Wall Online
• Berlin Wall Gallery
  

Finally, here are a few books for children age 9 and up:

• When the Wall Came Down: The Berlin Wall and the Fall of Soviet Communism (New York Times Books)
• Escape to West Berlin
• The Fall Of The Berlin Wall
• Spying And the Cold War
• The Cold War (20th Century Perspectives)