Myra here.
We are delighted to join the Nonfiction Picture Book meme 2019 hosted by Alyson Beecher @ Kid Lit Frenzy. We would also be linking our nonfiction choices with our reading themes throughout the year, when we can.
Write To Me: Letters From Japanese American Children To The Librarian They Left Behind
Written by Cynthia Grady Illustrated by Amiko Hirao
Published by Charlesbridge Publishing (2018)
ISBN: 158089688X (ISBN13: 9781580896887)
Borrowed from the Jurong West Public Library. Book photos taken by me.
Buy Write To Me: Letters From Japanese American Children To The Librarian They Left Behind on Amazon | Book Depository
Most people have a very limited view of the role played by librarians in society. For most, it is the stern, forbidding (usually) woman who shushes library patrons who are chatting or laughing while within library premises. For others, a librarian can be a saving grace, a salvation from difficult life circumstances (see Tomas and the Library Lady and my review here, That Book Woman and my review here, and Planting Stories with Fats’ review here – among many other titles about librarians we have featured over the years).
Miss Clara Estelle Breed clearly belongs to the latter category. This is felt even more keenly when Franklin Delano Roosevelt signed an Executive Order in 1942, effectively authorizing government officials to round up Americans of Japanese ancestry and relocate them in prison camps for fear that they may be spies in the ongoing Japanese – American war. The Author’s Note indicates that approximately 120,000 Japanese Americans lost their home and livelihood; more than half of these numbers were children.
The horrific experiences of the children were revealed through the short letters they sent to Miss Breed, the librarian who provided them addressed penny postcards in her desire to remain in contact with her library patrons, particularly the young children. For more detailed information about what went on in the concentration camps, do check out Allen Say’s Home Of The Brave (which I reviewed here), and Music for Alice by Allen Say (my review here) and So Far From The Sea by Eve Bunting and Chris Soentpiet (my review here).
The lovely thing about Miss Breed is that she not only responded to these postcards, she sent the children boxes of books, visited their concentration camps, and also sent other things such as art materials, seeds for planting, and other basic necessities which she felt would be of use to them after reading their heartfelt postcards.
This is also a picturebook biography where the endpapers are part of the overall narrative, providing the much needed historical context from which the moving story is based. Clearly, Miss Breed has redefined the role of a librarian; although, others may argue that this is precisely the role that librarians actually play – someone who nourishes one’s soul through books that provide a form of escape and redemption. A beautiful story about a remarkable and unforgettable woman – do find it!
#WomenReadWomen2019: Cynthia Grady and Amiko Hirao are both from the United States of America.
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