As a Japanese American girl born and raised on the island of Oahu, I didn’t get to read many picture books about my culture. Even as a mother, finding books for my kids that reflected our lives were far and in between. This is slowly changing and I’m excited to share new picture books about both growing up in Hawaii and being Japanese American.
I first saw Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson‘s picture book The Mochi Makers, right about the time when I was writing my own picture book about mochi. I was amazed that she was both the author and illustrator. Her book was sweet and beautifully conveyed what it’s like making mochi with family. It felt fresh and yet familiar.
I reached out to Sharon when her second book came out. Shell Song published by Beach Lane Books was based on her family’s story of being taken during WWII and incarcerated in Hawaii at an internment camp. I never knew anyone interned in Hawaii. And I learned a lot from her book which was simply depicted. It’s a heart-wrenching story that must resemble the lives of many who were taken away after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. It’s a story we don’t hear enough.
I love Sharon’s strategic and beautiful use of colors. Lights were illuminated, for example, in the family’s home, but dark shadows follow the car that takes her grandfather away. Most impressive are the shells he kept and each detailed drawing she creates, each with a story, a name for kids to learn, and a token of hope. At times the pages appear so realistic they look like photographs which add to the realism of the story.
Her use of onomatopoeia in the “clink, clink of the shells,” and the “crackle of the record player,” give a visceral sense of peace in direct contrast to the “shriek of warplanes.” It’s hard to not imagine what it must have been like for my own grandparents who lived during this time.
There is so much sadness in this book from a family broken apart, time that her grandfather missed with his children, and the grief that stayed with him. Yet, Sharon was able to convey so much hope and love in the stories, shells and legacy that he left his children.
This is a beautiful heartfelt book so important to not only Japanese Americans and Hawaii locals, but anyone who wants their children to understand history so that it will not be repeated again.
Interested in picture books about Japanese Americans during the war? You can read my review on Love in the Library here or read about Seen and Unseen here,
