Mira doesn't understand why her father is absent and will miss her birthday, so she and her imaginary friend go looking for him. Their store and home are vacant and they are living with others. But mama is still KNITTING. Loved ones go missing for a number of reasons, but this book was written as a call to remember a time of great sadness for Japanese families in North America duting WW2. The story is lovingly illustrated by Michelle Theodore in detailed, muted colors which are delightful yet reflect Mira's sadness. Well suited for reading WITH someone of any age including ESL, and great for gifting to anyone, but especially to a school or your local public library!
I requested and received a free temporary e-book on Adobe Digital Editions from Annick Press via NetGalley. Thank you!
@CBCBook Canadian author and illustrator ( )

Mira and Baku is a melancholy story. It indirectly refers to Japanese internment camps during World War II. Mira's mother tells her that Papa will not be there for her birthday. Papa has been gone for a long time. Mira's emotions at this news range from angry to sad. The book contains many heartwarming memories Mira has about Papa and their family before he left. She thinks Papa must have forgotten her, but her friend Baku says that would never happen, and he must need help. Baku is a Japanese folkloric creature that adds a wondrous element to the cultural aspect. Mira and Baku's search for Papa invokes both heartwarming and sad memories for Mira until she realizes she knows where Papa is. The illustrations by Michelle Theodore are lovely, subdued in color when depicting sadness and more colorful for happier times.
While this is a heartbreaking book, it is an important one. The time of internment camps is a stain on United States and Canadian history and an important lesson for people. I am unsure that the given age suggestion is appropriate for this serious matter. The children may be too young to understand the situation and upset by the sadness they don't understand. Although it is a picture book, older elementary school children could read it and would understand the lesson better.
Thank you to NetGalley and Annick Press for the ARC of this book. ( )

This is a sad story. Mika is a little girl whose birthday is five days away and the only thing she really wants us to see her father. But that is not possible. Imaginary friend Baku helps her travel through her imagination and see things like her abandon home, and her parents abandoned fish shop. At the end, it lets the reader see where her father is, which happens to be an internment camp. While the story is fictional, it is based on true events that happen both in Canada where this book takes place and in the United States. It’s a sad point of history that still needs to be taught and this is a great first lesson. ( )

I was disappointed in this picture book about the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians. It focuses on a young girl, Mira, who is distressed because it appears that her father will be missing her birthday this year. She doesn’t know where he is. From the illustrations, an adult can infer that Mira and her mother are in a camp for Japanese-Canadian women and children. Young readers/listeners lack the background knowledge to make such an inference.

The plot of the book consists mainly of Mira and her imaginary friend, Baku flying over coastal mountains and forests, visiting familiar places where Mira’s papa might be. (Baku, by the way, isn’t even identified as her imaginary friend—until one reads the afterword. He looks like an anteater.) Ultimately, a letter does come from Papa with a special new stone to add to Mira’s collection, which also figures prominently in the book.

The narrative itself provides virtually no historical context about what happened to Japanese Canadians during World War II. Explanatory detail is completely absent until the reader gets to the author’s note at the end. I can’t imagine reading this book to children. I’m doubtful it would be well received. There’s an emotional flatness to the whole thing—essentially nothing much to hook the young reader.

The illustrations are serviceable, but nothing special.

I did not like this book, and I cannot recommend it. ( )