Monchan’s Bag
by Sleepless Kao
Hardcover | ages 4 to 8 | 36 pages | 2010 | ISBN 978-1-897476-32-1 | $18.95
We all carry bags, and what we keep inside them reveals something about who we are. Ultimately, however, what we carry in our hearts counts the most. This sweet picture book reveals what Monchan carries in both, brought to life by the adorable art of Sleepless Kao.
The Cowboy Fisherman
by Seiji Hiroe
paperback | 32 pages | June 2010 | ISBN 978-1-926586-03-8| $19.95
The Cowboy Fisherman is a story of friendship between Slim and Tomizou during the Great Depression. Slim was a man trying his hand at fishing to support his family, and Tomizou was a seasoned Japanese fisherman who took Slim under his wing. Find out how Slim uses his cowboy skills to save his and his son’s life when they find themselves in dangerous water and the rock anchor disappears into the ocean.
Fly Catcher Boy 
Rebecca Kool (Author), David Namisato (Illustrator)
Ages 9-12 | paperback | 40 pages | Gumboot Books | September 28, 2009 | ISBN 1926691032 | $14.99
Kenji is afraid of thunder. Alone in the house one stormy night, Kenji is startled by a noise outside. He finds a wet, miserable cat sitting on the doorstep and brings him inside to warmth and safety. After introductions to his grandmother the next morning, Kenji and his new friend set off on adventures in their small Japanese town. Written in English with Japanese words and expressions throughout the text, Fly Catcher Boy provides readers with a window into Japanese language and culture. The pronunciation glossary ensures that readers will be able to pronounce, and understand, the Japanese words they are learning throughout the story.
HALF WORLD
Hiromi Goto – Author
Jillian Tamaki – Illustrator
Hardback | 235 x 159mm | 224 pages | ISBN 9780670069651 | 27 Jan 2009 | Puffin Canada | 0+ years
Melanie Tamaki is an outsider. Unpopular and impoverished, she is the only child of a loving but neglectful mother. She barely copes with surviving school and life. But everything changes on the day she returns home to find her mother is missing, lured back to Half World by a vile creature calling himself Mr. Glueskin. Soon Melanie embarks on an epic and darkly fantastical journey to Half World to save her mother. What she does not yet realize is that the state of the universe is at stake….
Award winning author, Hiromi Goto’s novel is an adventurous, genre-bending fantasy of shape-shifting characters, tortured half lives, and redemption.
Suki’s Kimono
Chieri Uegaki and Stéphane Jorisch
32 pages softcover ISBN: 1-55337-084-8 $6.95
On her first day of school and despite her older sisters’ warnings that it “isn’t cool,” Suki is determined to wear her lovely blue kimono that was given to her by her grandmother during the summer holidays. When Suki arrives at school, she gets plenty of snide comments and laughter, but she simply “concentrated on sitting up straight and tall, the way her obachan always did.” After Suki demonstrates how the dancers at the festival performed, the children clap and congratulate her. On the way home, her sisters are upset that no one noticed their new clothes, but everyone noticed Suki.
This is a lovely book about “doing your own thing.” The watercolour illustrations by Stéphane Jorisch are particularly appealing, with wonderful expressions on the faces of Suki and her classmates. It would make a good “read-aloud” book for nursery-grade 3, and it could also be used to introduce the subject of different ethnic backgrounds.
Dear Ichiro
Jean Davies Okimoto, illustrated by Doug Keith
32 pages hardcover ISBN-10: 1570613737 $22
Kindergarten-Grade 3-When Henry squabbles with his best friend, Oliver is sent home and Henry is absolutely convinced he will never play with him again. That afternoon, Henry’s great-grandfather takes him to a Seattle Mariners baseball game. When team members Ichiro Suzuki and Kazuhiro Sasaki appear on the field, Grampa Charlie cheers along with the crowd. However, he also recalls fighting against the Japanese in World War II and marvels at the positive changes he could never have anticipated all those years ago. Henry applies his grandfather’s thoughts about war and reconciliation to his friendship with Oliver and writes a letter to Suzuki sharing his grandfather’s ideas. While the message of forgive and forget is the principal point of the story, it is delivered with innocent appeal. Brightly colored illustrations capture the boys’ anger as well as the excitement of an afternoon at the ballpark. The introduction of actual baseball players adds authenticity, and notes provide a brief history of the emergence of baseball in Japan and the arrival of Japanese players on the American scene.
Naomi’s Tree
Joy Kogawa. Illustrated by Ruth Ohi.
32 pages. Hardcover. ISBN 978-1554550555. $19.95
Based on the World War II story of Naomi and Stephen in Naomi’s Road, Naomi’s Tree is a poetic story about enduring love and its almost mystical power to heal the spirit.
Abby’s Birds
Ellen Schwartz. Illustrated by Sima Elizabeth Shefrin.
28 pages. Hardcover. ISBN 1-896580-86-6. $22.95
Abby makes an unlikely friend in her new neighbourhood, her elderly Japanese neighbour, Mrs. Naka. All spring and summer, the two delight in the robins that live in the maple tree that straddles their yards, following the birds’ progress as they nest and the babies hatch and learn to fly, Mrs. Naka teaches Abby how to make tori, origami birds, and this new skill comes in handy as Abby conjures up a surprise to comfort the ailing Mrs. Naka.
Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden
Maxine Trottier. Illustrated by Paul Morin.
32 pages. Softcover. ISBN 1550051520. $9.95
Once more, Maxine Trottier takes a small piece of a larger story, nurtures it with care, and grows a tale as elegant as a Japanese garden. Mr. Hiroshi’s Garden is a simple story of innocence and friendship set against a backdrop of fear and suspicion. A story that must be told and told — but never repeated.
The Sakura Tree
Carolyn McTighe, paintings by Karen Brownlee
32 pages Hardcover ISBN 0-88995-354-6 $19.95
This gently eloquent tale follows the progress of three so-called “picture brides” who immigrate to Canada in the early twentieth century, three girls sent away by a father who wishes for them a more prosperous life than he can provide in their hometown of Sendai, Japan. As they left, each takes with her one item that will remind her of their home. One brings a kimono, another a violin, but Haruko brings three seeds of the sakura tree.
The Reunion
Jacqueline Pearce. Cover art by Darcy Novakowski
96 pages. Softcover. ISBN 1-55143-230-7. $6.95
Shannon is excited about spending a week at her friend Rina’s house, but she’s a little nervous too. Rina seems to be able to do everything better than she can and her home is chaotic compared to Shannon’s own. When things fall apart, Rina’s grandmother is there to tell them a story from her past, early in the Second World War. The story is about a rift between her and her childhood friend, Mitsu, a rift that could never be healed because Mitsu and her family were taken away from the small town of Paldi and interned with other Japanese Canadians. Rina’s grandmother, Jas, never saw Mitsu again. That is, not until Shannon and Rina find a handful of forgotten beads in the bottom of a cardboard box.
Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories 
Florence Sakade. Illustrations By Yoshisuke Kurosaki
112 pages. Hardcover. ISBN 0-8048-3449-0. $25.95
Playful goblins with long noses, magic tea kettles and a delightfully brave hero who just happens to be one inch tall–these are some of the wonderful characters you’ll meet in this collection of the 20 best-loved Japanese children’s stories. Drawn from folklore and passed down for generations, these classic tales speak of the virtues of hard work, humility, kindness and good humor – “Once upon a time . . .” has never sounded so inviting.
Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories, Book Two
Compiled by Florence Sakade, Illustrated by Yoshio Hayashi.
96 pages. Hardcover. ISBN 0804833818. $25.95.
Singing turtles, flying farmers and a dragon who cries—these are just some of the magical characters you’ll meet in this delightful collection of children’s stories. This beautifully illustrated book follows Tuttle’s classic and immensely popular Japanese Children’s Favorite Stories, bringing together a wonderful mix of well-loved, traditional folktales and contemporary favorites. With sparkling illustrations on almost every page and the promise that goodwill and kindness will always carry the day, readers are sure to find much to love in these stories.
Kenji and the Cricket
Adele Wiseman. Illustrations by Shizuye Takashima
24 pages Hardcover ISBN 0-88984-126-8 $12.95
Kenji and the Cricket recounts the quest of a Japanese war orphan for a family, and it addresses every child’s desire for love and security. Kenji, a starving street boy, adopts a pet cricket that leads him to a childless couple who in turn adopt him. The warmth of the narrative is enhanced by Shizuye Takashima’s watercolour illustrations, whose blurred edges relieve the harshness of the details of Kenji’s daily life and give the story the cast of memoir or fable.
Salmon Canning on the Fraser River in the 1890s
Mitsuo Yesaki & Sakuya Nishimura. Illustrated by Duke Yesaki
35 pages Softcover $14
This book describes how salmon were caught and processed in the canneries on the Fraser River in the 1890s. Caucasian and Japanese fishermen caught sockeye salmon in gillnets fished from Columbia River boats. Steam tugboats collected and transported the catch in fish barges to the salmon canneries. In the canneries, salmon were processed in mass production assembly lines, consisting of a series of tables, tanks and manually operated machines. Chinese workers manned the gutting tables, gang knives, salting machines, soldering machines, vent stopping and testing tables, steam retorts and labeling tables. Native women cleaned the carcasses in sliming and washing tanks, and stuffed the fish steaks into cans at the filling tables. A few Caucasian technicians monitored the canning lines, to keep them operating flawlessly without stoppages.
(Japanese version also available)
The Long Silk Strand: A Grandmother’s Legacy to Her Granddaughter 
Laura E. Williams, illustrated by Grayce Bochak.
32 p. Softcover picture book. ISBN 1-56397-856-3. $10.95.
Night after night, as she weaves a long silk strand, Grandmother tells her granddaughter Yasuyo stories from her long life. Then one day Grandmother is gone. Saddened, Yasuyo walks in the garden. There she finds a beautiful and puzzling sight – a long silk strand hanging from the sky. Only when she climbs the silk strand to the top of the clouds does Yasuyo learn its true meaning.
The Water of Possibility
Hiromi Goto
328 pages. Softcover. ISBN: 1-55050-183-6. $9.95
Twelve-year-old Sayuri and her little brother Kenji find real excitement in the small Canadian town they’ve moved to, in the form of a magical Middle World behind a door in the cellar. Behind the door, exists a woodland full of figures from Japanese folklore—a giant Yamanba woman, a shape shifter fox and a green water sprite called a kappa. They battle great evil and in the process discover their own inner strength. This book is a part of a multi-cultural series set around the world.
Butterflies for Kiri
Cathryn Falwell
32 pages. Hardcover. ISBN 1-58430-100-7. $21.95
Kiri loves to make things. When she receives an origami set for her birthday, she can’t wait to try making a butterfly, just like the one Auntie Lu had made. Kiri chooses a bright purple paper and carefully follows the steps, but the paper tears after just four folds. Her beautiful paper is ruined!
Disappointed but not discouraged, Kiri continues to practice making origami butterflies. Then one beautiful spring day in the park Kiri is inspired to make a picture of what she sees, and her creative and colorful solution turns out to be more rewarding than she could have imagined. BUTTERFLIES FOR KIRI is a gentle testament to a child’s determination and creativity, and like Kiri, children will be inspired to make their own origami butterflies. Easy-to-follow instructions are provided at the end of the story.
Caged Eagles
Eric Walters
256 pages Softcover ISBN 1-55143-139-4 $10.95
During World War II, Tadashi Fukushima and his family are forced by government edict to abandon their home and, along with other Japanese-Canadians, journey to an internment center where they await an uncertain fate. For Tadashi, age fourteen, detention becomes both an adventure and a dilemma as he tries to understand the undercurrents of racism and injustice that have overtaken his life.
Manga Touch
Jacqueline Pearce
112 pages softcover ISBN:9781551437460 $9.95
Dana is excited about her school trip to japan despite the fact that she is surrounded by the Melly Mob, “in crowd” kids who make fun of her. Dana is certain she will be less of an outsider in Japan, home of manga and anime, but she soon discovers that it’s just as difficult to fit in with a foreign culture as it is to fit in at school. As Dana learns to meet people halfway and gains friends in Japan, Melissa, leader of the Melly Mob, makes every effort to remind her that she is still an outsider.
Naomi’s Road
Joy Kogawa
120 pages Softcover ISBN 978-1-55005-115-5 $9.95
Based on her award-winning adult novel, Obasan, Joy Kogawa’s Naomi’s Road takes younger readers on a remarkable journey into the life and times of six-year-old Naomi Nakane as she grows up in the shadow of one of the darkest moments in Canadian history. As Japan entered the Second World War on the side of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy, thousands of Canadians of Japanese ancestry found their lives torn apart. Their property and belongings seized by the Canadian government, they were forced from their homes and put into internment camps, and later moved to disparate parts of Canada far away from other family members and friends. It is a story that Kogawa knows well–she herself was a child like Naomi who survived the humiliation and brutality that was shown to Japanese Canadians, and she poignantly relives her own childhood experiences as she takes us into Naomi’s world. Through Naomi’s eyes, we witness the terrible prejudice that faced Japanese Canadians and the wrenching pain of being displaced again and again. Kogawa is to be particularly commended for giving voice to the sense of confusion as Naomi watches her world come apart, never really understanding why these terrible things are happening. But Naomi’s Road is also a novel about the importance of family, the power of friendship, and the possibility of finding light even in moments of darkness.
Tsubaki
Aki Shimazaki, translated by Fred A. Reed
Tsubaki (Camellia in Japanese) tells a story of betrayal and vengeance set against the nuclear blast that destroyed Nagasaki on August 9, 1945. The image of the camellia, the red flower that stands out against its dark green leaves, runs through Aki Shimazaki’s stark, finely-wrought novel. Spare, almost laconic in its imagery, oblique in its gaze, Tsubaki draws its power from the delicacy of understatement.
