A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (English and Japanese Edition) [Hardcover]

Amy Lee-Tai (Author), Felicia Hoshino (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 2006 | Age Level: 6 and up | Grade Level: K and up

Under the harsh summer sun, Mari’s art class has begun. But it’s hard to think of anything to draw in a place where nothing beautiful grows — especially a place like Topaz, the internment camp where Mari’s family and thousands of other Japanese Americans have been sent to live during World War II. Somehow, glimmers of hope begin to surface — in the eyes of a kindly art teacher, in the tender words of Mari’s parents, and in the smile of a new friend. Amy Lee-Tai’s sensitive prose and Felicia Hoshino’s stunning mixed-media images show that hope can survive even the harshest injustice.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 1-4–Lee-Tai based this story on the experiences of her grandparents and her mother, who were interned in Topaz, Utah, during World War II. With quiet understatement, the text focuses on the confusion and sadness young Mari feels after her familys abrupt relocation to the camp. In the harsh desert landscape, she thinks wistfully of her home, where she played with her brother in a yard filled with flowers. Her parents are worried about her silence and listlessness, but an art class offers her a means of expressing her feelings. She makes a friend as well, and when her desert sunflowers put up seedlings, she feels a new sense of hope. The story is told in both English and Japanese, and the earth-toned illustrations, created using watercolors, ink, tissue paper, and acrylic paint, nicely detail the simple plot. Hoshino modeled some of her compositions on those of Hisako Hibi, the authors grandmother and a prominent Japanese-American painter. Other picture books dealing with this topic include Eve Buntings So Far from the Sea (Clarion, 1998), Yoshiko Uchidas The Bracelet (Philomel, 1993), and Rick Noguchi and Deneen Jenkss Flowers from Mariko (Lee & Low, 2001). Lee-Tais tale, with its emphasis on the internees dignity and feelings, offers the gentlest introduction to this tragic episode.–Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Gr. 1-3. Inspired by the experiences of the author's Japanese American grandparents at Utah's Topaz Relocation Center during World War II, this picture book, presented in English alongside a Japanese translation, celebrates the "sense of purpose and peace" that the act of creation can bring. Everything seems grim about young Mari's life in the desert camp, where "the mountains, the vast sky, and the blazing sun made [her] feel as small as a sunflower seed." However, with gentle encouragement from her parents and art teacher, Mari crayons colorful pictures that lift her spirits, paralleling the sprouting of sunflower seeds in her mother's parched garden. The message feels a bit overt, and the slightly wandering story line may not hold every reader. Still, Hoshino's delicate mixed-media illustrations offer a wide-angle view of the daily lives of internees, and her buff-colored backdrops palpably convey the dusty, arid setting. Although a preface and endnote offer historical background, it's so brief that the book will probably work best as a supplement to more straightforward nonfiction about the time. Jennifer Mattson
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 6 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Children's Book Press; Bilingual edition (May 25, 2006)
• Language: English, Japanese
• ISBN-10: 0892392150
• ISBN-13: 978-0892392155
• Product Dimensions: 11 x 10.1 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #591,403 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Highly recommended for all young readers ages 6 to 10, August 12, 2006

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

A lovely bilingual picturebook (English/Japanese), A Place Where Sunflowers Grow by Amy Lee-Tai features illustrations from Felicia Hoshino and is the intimate story of a young girl and her life among thousands of other Japanese American families interned by the government during World War II in the Topaz Relocation Center in Utah. Deftly contributing to a historically ill state of America and their world, A Place Where Sunflowers Grow follows Mari through the beginning of her art classes during the heat of the summer, her discovery of life, her newly found passion for art, and the use of her art to cope with the harsh circumstances of her family's confinement. Inspired by the author's personal life and family history, A Place Where Sunflowers Grow is very highly recommended for all young readers ages 6 to 10, as well school and community librarians seeking to augment their bilingual picturebook collections.

5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful book!, November 20, 2011

By 

Alyn (The Land of the Fey) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

I loved this book. The pictures were beautiful and they really portrayed how life was for a little girl in the Japanese internment camps. I loved the Japanese writing underneath all of the English text, a nice touch. I used this for a school project (multicultural lesson plan) and it went over really well. I plan on using this book in my classroom when I become a teacher!

5.0 out of 5 stars Beautiful and poignant, February 12, 2011

By 

A. Eaves "Rev P" (California) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (English and Japanese Edition) (Hardcover)

This is a beautiful book on Manzanar. My kids were drawn into the pictures and understood the message. I have given it as a gift twice.