A Place Where Sunflowers Grow
Children's Book Press, 2006
Written bilingually (English and Japanese), A Place Where Sunflowers Grow tells the story of young Mari whose family, among many Japanese-Americans, have been interned at Topaz Relocation Center in Utah during World War II. Mari is sad and confused, but she and her community create activities and social rituals to rise above the injustice and indignity of living in communal barracks surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers. The Topaz Art School gives Mari a chance to make a new friend and express her longing for home. With her mother, she plants sunflower seeds, which despite the desert soil, grow, bloom, and bring happiness to the community.
Amy Lee-Tai has based this hopeful story on the experiences of her mother and grandmother. Felicia Hoshino's illustrations wonderfully capture the wide range of Mari's thoughts and emotions. The internment of 120,000 Japanese-Americans is not an easy event to discuss with children, but as I'm thinking about Martin Luther King, Jr., today, I am reminded that it is important to make the effort. Books like these help enormously.
I've never heard about the Topaz Art School; a quick Internet search turned up the name of Chiura Obata, a Berkeley prof. who was interned at Topaz and taught there. I'm looking forward to learning more about him and the school. Are there any children's books about Isamu Noguchi, who voluntarily interned himself during the war?
ReplyDeleteI will look around for a children's book about Isamu Noguchi. His life and art would make an interesting subject.
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