Customer Reviews

Shin's Tricycle

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I've used this book as part of a text set in studying WWII and the Japanese experience. I was working with 5th Graders. I brought together almost every book that I could find that was relevant and laid them out on a table. After giving a brief book talk on each book, I allowed my students to read for two weeks straight. The students chose what they wanted to read and followed their own interests. After the first week, I invited students to share information regarding some of the books that they had read. This provided more information for students in selecting next books to read. After the two weeks of reading, we had a book discussion that lasted almost a week and a half. The students frequently explored a wide variety of issues and picked up books that they had read to illustrate what they were talking about. At the end of the study session they said that picture books helped them quickly get multiple perspectives on the issue that interested them. Since they could read a picture book in approx 20 minutes, this meant that they could read a lot of books on one aspect of interest and then make more informed decisions regarding the chapter books that were on the table. They also said that after this learning experience they had a different view of the value of picture books. Previously they had been dismissive of these books, seeing them as "for younger readers." Afterwards, they saw that these books were informative in different ways that they valued highly.

Tens of thousands of people died when the first atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima on August 6, 1945. But we have long known that the story of a single person often has more impact than that of a large number, a truth certainly reaffirmed in the wake of September 11th. In "Shin's Tricycle" writer Tatsuharu Kodama (who lived through the atomic explosion himself) tells the true story of Nobuo Tetsutani and his son, Shin, who died before his fourth birthday a few days after the atomic blast. However, it is battered tricycle, now displayed at the Peace Museum in Hiroshima, that comes to symbolize what happened that day for the the readers.

Illustrated by Noriyuki Ando, "Shin's Tricycle" tells a simple story of a little boy who wants a red tricycle for his birthday. However, because of a war he can understand little about, there are no longer any tricycles in Japan: the metal is used to build tanks and cannons, not toys. But in a small miracle Shin gets the tricycle of his dreams and is riding it with his friend Kimi when the unthinkable happens.

"Shin's Tricycle" will probably impact young readers much more than what they would ever read in a history textbook. I lived in Japan for several years when my father was stationed there, and I regret that I never made it to Hiroshima. On the last page there is a photograph of Shin and his tricycle. Since this is a book about making a tremendously large event seem real because of details, the fact that one of the handlebars is missing in this photograph will certainly get you choked up.

I begin the US History unit about Pearl Harbor with this book. They may be mostly juniors in high school and this is an elementary book, but it really gets to them! The book gives them a different perspective and really touches them so they are ready to discuss and learn.

This Children's book depicts the horrors that the Japanese peopel suffered when the atomic bombs were dropped. This book is beautifully illustrated and in an excellent contribution to the genre of Historical Fiction.

In school children learn about World War II and the genocide of the Jews by the Nazis. If lucky, students learn of the Japanese experience in America. But rarely do we find a book that talks about the Japanese in Hiroshima during that tragic August afternoon. This book is a reminder that war hurts everybody and as citizens of Earth, we should strive for global peace.

This book is great for reviewing a perspecitve on Hiroshima and the atomic bomb. I would use it for that. However, there are aspects to this book that are a bit controversial. The book talks about how the father dug up his son's bones. To me, that's not necessary. Also, one reason I feel this book is biased is because the father says that people always die in war and that it is a bad thing. We should let students and individuals make their own opinions and not be swayed by a book. The pictures are quite graphic, but do portray feelings of emotion. Before reading this book to children, one should think about what he/she is trying to say or what message he/she is putting out towards individuals