Peace Tree from Hiroshima: A Little Bonsai with a Big Story: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story - Hardcover

Sandra Moore

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 4805313471 ISBN 13: 9784805313473

Publisher: Tuttle Shokai Inc, 2015

Synopsis

The Peace Tree from Hiroshima. This true children's story is told by a little bonsai tree that lived with the same family in the Japanese city of Hiroshima for more than 300 years before being donated to the National Arboretum in Washington DC in 1976 as a gesture of friendship between America and Japan to celebrate the American Bicentennial. The tree is called Miyajima after the island on which it first grew, before being gently uprooted and brought to the home of the Yamaki family, where it was lovingly pruned and trimmed by generations of fathers and sons. At the end of the Second World War, an atomic bomb destroys Hiroshima. Many people die, but the Yamaki family and Miyajima survive. One day, a truck comes to take Miyajima away. The little tree is on its way to the National Arboretum in Washington as a gift of friendship from Japan to America. Miyajima is very proud, but also sad to leave the Yamaki family. At the end of the book, Masaru, the elderly grandfather of the family, and his ten-year-old grandson Akira, make a surprise visit to Washington to visit their much missed and beloved family member.

About this title

Review:

"If you are looking to instill a bit of history and culture into your child, this is a great book." --Parenting Healthy blog

"This is a story about the art of caring. Its message will speak to the heart of any child who reads it and nourish his or her roots in the process." --Ron Himler, illustrator of Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

"I would recommend this book to children who are eager to learn about history from other cultures and as a starter to get kids interested in nature. The story is personal and sentimental, but is able to cross the bridge from nature to other cultures." --Washington Gardener magazine

"First-time author Moore draws from the story of a centuries-old bonsai tree that was donated to the United States for the 1976 bicentennial. Closing notes separate fact from fiction and discuss the art of bonsai in this straightforward but affecting tribute to patience, dedication, and a generosity of spirit that surmounted tragedy." --Publishers Weekly

"Fairy tale-sounding this may seem, but the ending 'Author's Note' will reveal just how true this inspiring story actually is. A first book for journalist Sandra Moore, Peace Tree couldn't be a better choice to begin an authorly career." --Smithsonian BookDragon

"Picture books that deal with adult themes can be difficult to get right, particularly when there's war involved but this one manages to light up some dark material. Based on true events, the titular tree is a white pine that was taken from its home as a seedling and trimmed into bonsai form. As it grew, it was passed down from generation to generation and even survived the bombing at Hiroshima. The more-than-300-year old tree was eventually sent to America at part of her 200th birthday celebrations, a symbol of friendship between the two formerly warring countries." --Sydney Morning Herald

"...this 350-year-old bonsai had survived the atom bomb dropped on Hiroshima! No one in America knew anything about this until then. The survival of this old bonsai, which had been sitting on a bench behind a wall at the Yamaki home not far from the epicenter of the blast, was in and of itself astonishing. But just as amazing were the facts that Mr. Yamaki had not mentioned this critical fact when he donated the bonsai, that he had given such a masterpiece to America, his former enemy, and that in making the gift Mr. Yamaki must have been forgiving America for dropping the bomb on his home city. In an instant, the Yamaki Pine became an international symbol of peace." --Felix Laughlin, President of the National Bonsai Foundation

"...tells of the aging of devoted caregivers over three centuries until it survives a cataclysmic event and an overseas voyage to become a symbol of international friendship." --Friends Journal

Book Description:

Shanghai in the 1920s was undergoing massive amounts of change. With a flourishing opium trade, communism gaining a foothold and the turmoil between the foreigners, Chinese and gangsters overrunning the city, few would have considered it an appropriate time to build a landmark hotel.

In The Peace Hotel: A Non-Fiction Novel, author Chen Danyan traces the history of this iconic Shanghai luxury hotel. Built by Victor Sassoon, a Jewish business tycoon whose inherited wealth came from the opium trade, the Peace Hotel came to life on a prime waterfront lot in Shanghai in 1929. Originally called the Cathay, it was the toast of Asia until WWII and the Japanese Occupation. Chen Danyan's remarkable account of the Peace Hotel covers seven tumultuous decades as this grand building, the most luxurious hotel on the Bund, witnessed the changing fortunes of families and business dynasties.

From the nearly overnight loss of riches of the "indigenous capitalists" in the 1950s to the post-revolutionary times of hardship and austerity, the Peace Hotel managed to survive it all. After multiple name changes and various owners, this heritage hotel has finally become a magnificent local icon and inspiration for inquisitive scholars. Like a sleeping beauty, in 2010 the Peace Hotel was roused from slumber and modernized while remaining true to its history. From its birth in 1929 to its reincarnation as a modern hotel, The Peace Hotel: A Non-Fiction Novel tells the remarkable story of a remarkable building.

About this edition

• Publisher: Tuttle Shokai Inc
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 4805313471
• ISBN 13: 9784805313473
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 32