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…