American author Sandra Moore and expatriate Japanese illustrator Kazumi Wilds tell the story of a four-hundred-year-old bonsai pine tree that became a symbol of peace in this engaging and deeply moving picture-book. Transplanted from the island of Miyajami when still a seedling, the tree became the treasured arboreal companion of the Yamaki family, cared for down the centuries by generation after generation of fathers and sons. Then one day, in the Yamaki family courtyard in Hiroshima, the little bonsai tree became a true survivor: enduring the atomic blast that obliterated the city. Eventually nursed back to health, Miyajima flourished, until one day his current human caretaker, Masura Yamaki, decided that he would be part of Japan's symbolic gift to the United States, on the occasion of American bicentennial. Now a symbol of endurance, survival, and most of all peace, the Yamaki White Pine now lives at the National Bonsai and Penjing Museum at the National Arboretum in Washington, D.C., where it is known as the Peace Tree...

A debut for Sandra Moore, whose background, according to the dust-jacket blurb, is in political writing and journalism, The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story had me tearing up on more than one occasion, moved by its story of beauty, endurance and survival, the human connection to nature, and the human capacity for both destruction and forgiveness. It was recommended to me by an online friend, after I read and reviewed the recent Branches of Hope: The 9/11 Survivor Tree, about the Callery pear tree that survived the wreckage of the World Trade Center, on 9/11. That tale suggested this other story of an arboreal survivor of human violence, and I immediately set out to track it down, eventually obtaining a copy through interlibrary loan. I am so glad that I did, as I found it both informative and emotionally resonant. One wonders at the greatness of heart of people like Yamaki. The accompanying illustrations from Kazumi Wilds, whose work I have encountered once before, in Holly Thompson's The Wakame Gatherers, is quite lovely at times, particularly in its depiction of the bonsai. It is also occasionally quite bleak, as in the scenes during and after the atomic explosion in Hiroshima. The contrast between the two is immensely powerful.

Recommended to picture-book readers looking for stories of survival, resilience, forgiveness, peace, and the beauty of bonsai trees. ( )

Genre: Historical Fiction
Age: Primary (3-6)
Review:
This book follows the tale of a bonsai tree that was dug up from the forest 300 years ago. It was taken home to a family and nurtured for 300 years. After WWII the Bonsai tree was given to the US as a gift, known as the Peace Tree.
This is historical fiction we follow a story that has happened but the facts may not all be true. The tree is something that was given to the US as a peace tree, but the journey it was on may not be completely true. Or the fact that the tree calls itself I would make it a historical fiction because a tree cannot have thoughts as far as we know.
Use:
1) Talk about WWII and what it did to Japan and the US
2) Consider how a tree could be considered as a peace gift
Ill. Media: Colored Pencil? ( )

This story written from the perspective of the tree tells the story of the Hiroshima Peace Tree now in Washington D.C. I would say it is for children 5 years + as it explores a more mature theme and has a diverse vocabulary. Wonderful read of a powerful story!