Customer Reviews

The Cherry Blossom Festival: Sakura Celebration

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent book if you would like to get an overview and history of Washington DC's Cherry Blossom Festival. There's some really good historical photographs and drawings and it was enjoyable to read about the development, meaning, symbolism, etc. of the Cherry Blossom Festival. I would rate this book 4.5 stars only because while there are some great photos of the spectacular trees there aren't nearly as many as there should be. This is a great book if you are new to Washington and/or looking for a gift.

The book is very detailed and wonderfully illustrated. It starts with the traditions and roots of Cherry Blossom Festivals from Japan. Then it explians how the cherry blossom trees came to Washington and how the US picked up the traditions of the Cherry Blossom Festival. It ends with a chapter about how to care for cherry blossoms and how they exist, not only in cities of Japan and Washington, D.C., but also in other parts of the US, such as New York and Ohio, Missouri and California. Lovely book.

Funny enough, the book was printed in China.

Having redecorated my office in a traditional/modern Japanese motife, with cherry blossoms and a planted cherry blossom tree outside the window, the book just adds to the office and provides a history of the cherry blossom as it pertains to Japan.

Bob

My first impression was that author Ann McLellan has a great eye. She has collected an exciting, beautiful album of enchanting historic images as well as lovely new photos with a certain contemporary charm, to kindle or restore vivid memories held by generations of "once and future" visitors to Washington's Cherry Blossom Festival: the Sakura Celebration. My second impression was to be captivated by her poetic captions of the artistic array of intriguing wood cuts, paintings, photos and portraits, impossible to put down, pure fun to follow, one by one from cover to cover. The third impression is that the story behind the imagery also reveals her lively personality and conversational talents in an accessible style, not only as social history, political and diplomatic history, but also garden and landscape history and environmental art. This book's ideal user-friendly size is easy to handle and one wants to peruse again and again. Her in-depth narrative of the personalities behind the scenes of the planting of the cherry trees in Washington DC is a fascinating tale. It's a book to share and give to best friends and family with confidence, plus gratitude to the author for creating a true treasure of two cultures.

Lots of illustrations and facts about the role of the cherry blossom tree in diplomacy and landscapes. Info on the trees' cultivation, how the U.S. got the trees, places outside of Washington, DC to see them.

The author has worked at the Smithsonian and is a resident of D.C.