A Place Where Sunflowers Grow (Hardcover)

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

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

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4-8
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Children's Book Press; Bilingual edition (May 25, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0892392150
• ISBN-13: 978-0892392155
• Product Dimensions: 10.9 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 (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #555,094 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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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

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 A Place Where Sunflowers Grow, May 1, 2008

By	Miss M's Fourth Graders (Santa Clara, CA) - See all my reviews

A Place Where Sunflowers Grow, by Amy Lee-Tai and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino, takes place in an internment camp in the U.S. Mari is homesick thinking about memories before she came to the internment camp. Mari and Mama planted sunflower seeds. Mari asked Mama if the sunflowers will grow high, powerful and lovely. "It will take time patience and care," Mama answered nicely.

The next day Papa walked with Mari to Topaz School. Papa asked Mari "Why don't you giggle and speak any more?" When art class started, Mari couldn't think what to draw and when art class finished, Mari's paper was still blank. The next day when Mari went back to Topaz Mrs. Hanamoto said to draw something from before you came here but Mari still couldn't think something so she drew her old backyard. Mama and Papa were worried about Mari. Mari-chan didn't want to talk about it.
The next few days Mari was improving with her art and the walls were filled up with pictures. When Mari and Aiko were walking home together a big blizzard of dust storm went on to Aiko and Mari's skin. It was hard to walk but they tried and tried. When they reached to Mari's barrack they slammed the door immediately. They were coughing and were trying to get some air. The next few days Aiko-chan saw the sunflowers. Aiko called "Mari-chan!" She went running and looked at the sunflowers too and little tiny plants with little green leaves were growing. Mama, Mari, Aiko, and Mari's brother were happy.

This book teaches you that if you are in a scary place, your loved ones will still be there and it makes it less scary for you. Mari and her family had to go to the internment camp because of the World War Two and their things were taken away. A part when it was scary was when Mari and Papa were walking together to Topaz school and men were pointing guns at them. A part when it was happy was when Aiko and Mari were trying to walk through the dust storm and when Mari and Aiko reached Mari's barrack. They were coughing and laughing so Mari felt happy to have a new friend. Another part when Mari is happy is when Aiko saw the sunflowers and Aiko called Mari. When Mari saw the little green leaves she was really happy. I like the way when Mari is shy she still shows who she is to her teacher and her family.

By Boonevie

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book for All Libraries, February 9, 2008

By	Sheila M. Holsinger (Charlottesville, VA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Amy Lee-Tai's award-winner, A Place Where Sunflowers Grow, is a striking departure from typical picture books. Through the story of little Mari, who cannot understand why her family had to leave their home, young readers are given a poignant glimpse of life in a U.S. Japanese American internment camp during World War II. When Mari finds she cannot draw even a single picture in art class, her teacher suggests that she draw something that made her happy before her family was forced to move to the camp. Reflecting upon the home she had to leave behind, Mari colors a picture of the back yard where she and her brother played on the swing their Papa built, and where the garden was filled with flowers. Sharing her picture with a classmate, Aiko, opens a friendship that blossoms along with the sunflowers Mari planted weeks before. Felicia Hoshino's illustrations are a perfect complement to the story, capturing not only the innocence of childhood, but the harshness of the dreaded camp. Amy Lee-Tai drew upon the experience of her own family in writing A Place Where Sunflowers Grow, sharing with readers the little known realities of this sad and shameful chapter in American history. This bilingual book features text in both English and Japanese. For children six and older, A Place Where Sunflowers Grow should be available in both school and public libraries.