The Peace Bell - Hardcover

Preus, Margi

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0805078002 ISBN 13: 9780805078008

Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR), 2008

Synopsis

Yuko's grandmother remembers that when she was a little girl many years ago in Japan, her town's beautiful temple bell was taken away to be used as scrap metal for the war effort. She thought she'd never see it again. After the war the bell was brought to America by a U. S. Navy crew who found it abandoned in a Japanese shipyard. Most amazing of all, the bell was later returned to Japan as a gesture of friendship between the former warring countries. Told in evocative prose, this inspiring story based on the American-Japanese Friendship Peace Bell celebrates peace between nations.

About this title

About the Author

MARGI PREUS lives in Duluth,Minnesota, where a replica of the Peace Bell now resides.

HIDEKO TAKAHASHI is the illustrator of many books for children, including Come to My Party and Other Shape Poems and In My New Yellow Shirt. She lives in Seattle, Washington.

From School Library Journal

Kindergarten-Grade 3—Based on actual happenings, this gentle picture book promotes peace and illustrates how war impacts individuals in many ways. Framed by the narration of Katie-chan, an American visiting her friend Yuko in Japan, the story is told by Yuko's grandmother to the girls. The woman describes her childhood, recalling the song of an ancient temple bell that was sounded at midnight on New Year's Eve, ringing 108 times to chase away the worries of the world. But, when the war came, it was donated as scrap metal. After the war, the town gradually sprang to life, but Yuko's grandmother felt an empty spot in her heart where the bell's song used to live. Then, one day, the bell came back; it had been found abandoned in a shipyard by American sailors, sent to Minnesota, and finally returned to the town as a symbol of friendship. The simple plot is clearly developed with descriptive language, and an author's note provides more historical details. Done in Japanese acrylic paints, the realistic illustrations accurately portray the setting and capture the characters' various emotions—calmness, anxiety, happiness—as the story unfolds. Cultural details are woven into both text and pictures, and the message of peace between nations is eloquently conveyed.—Margaret R. Tassia, Millersville University, PA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

About this edition

• Publisher: Henry Holt and Co. (BYR)
• Publication date: 2008
• ISBN 10: 0805078002
• ISBN 13: 9780805078008
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32
• Illustrator: Takahashi Hideko