Cynthia GradyCritiques

This would be a good book with older elementary students due to the amount of reading and depth of the topic.
This book is about the Japanese American exodus that took place during World War 2. It discusses the letters of Japanese American children to their beloved librarian about their experiences and lives in internment camp.
This would be a good book to use as a read aloud when discussing World War 2 to bring in other perspectives of the war.

This book is based on a true story of a librarian who wrote letters to Japanese children she knew that had been sent away to an internment camp during WW2. This story is a great example of how something small can make a big difference is someone's life.

Another great story to pair with a history lesson on internment camps. It is told form the point of view of the librarian who is receiving and sending letters to her favorite group of students. It could be used to talk about trauma, historical hardship, and more from a young age. While I would say it is more appropriate for older children, it could be used with younger children too, especially since Arizona had internment camps during this time.

A beautiful and heart moving collection of poems that bring the history of slavery and preserves the cultures and experiences of those who faced it.

The poems in this collection mirror the structure of a quilt, and include biblical or spiritual references, musical references, and fiber arts references that reflect the patchwork of circumstances of enslaved people in America. Author’s Note, Illustrator’s Note, Suggested Readings.

A sensitive, unabashed portrait of a librarian (Clara Breed) who didn't let go of her students despite separation and supported them through the Japanese internment by writing to them, mailing books and other items, and visiting them. The student letters are forthright, sad and lonely, yet hopeful and even humorous: "Dear Miss Breed, If this weather keeps up the Japanese in Poston will be butter ... It is 120 in the shade. Postonly yours, Margaret Ishino." Includes an Author's Note, Notable Dates in Clara Breed's Life, Selected History of Japanese People in the United States, Source Notes, Selected Bibliography, Further Reading, and black and white photographs from the period.

This book is a story about a young Japanese schoolgirl who is interned. Before going to the internment camp, her school librarian gives her some stamps so the two of them can write each other. While interned, the librarian sends her soap, books, and other supplies that are hard to find within the camp. The book is beautifully illustrated and many school age children will enjoy what the book has to offer.

This incredible picture book beautifully illustrates slave songs, presents a score with lyrics, and tells the story of each song. A glossary, appendix with scoreless lyrics, and bibliography appear at the end. This book deserves a place in libraries and homes. I don't often keep picture books except for cat books, but this is one that I will keep.

This story is about children that wrote to their librarian while they were in World War II internment camps. They wrote to her about things going on around them and their living conditions. She would write back and send them plenty of books to read. She even went to visit them once, they wouldn't let them touch but she talked to them and gave them more books. The books helped the kids escape from their horrible reality for a little while so her letters and books kept their spirits high. The librarian advocated for them as much as she could. This book is great for kids because it teaches them about a very serious topic but puts it in a way they can understand. It also helps that the books is about kids and their experiences and not adults.

Write to Me: Letters from Japanese American Children to the Librarian They Left Behind by Cynthia Grady is a heartwarming non-fiction children's book about the kindness of a librarian toward the children she wanted to help. After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a librarian in San Diego, CA was saddened to learn that many of the families from her community were being sent away to the Japanese Internment Camps. The librarian, Miss Breed, gave the children self addressed postcards at the train station and asked them to write as they were being relocated. She did this as a way to keep in touch, learn how the children were doing, and offer some comfort and friendship to ease their discomfort. Miss Breed sent the children care packages with more postcards and books over the years, and they wrote to her. This book is a sweet reminder that there is comfort in the kindness and friendship of others even in extremely difficult and unfair situations. It also shows the willingness to persevere on the part of the families who were forced to live in the camps.

Written by Cynthia Grady and illustrated by Amiko Hirao. This is nonfiction picture book that is a true story of a librarian who stayed in touch with the children she served after they were moved forcibly away after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Before the children left, she gave them books and postcards to write to her. While they were gone, she continued to send them small things, even visiting once and delivering boxes of books. The children wrote to her during the three years they were gone as she offered them a way to stay connected to the outside world.

Well I knew I was in Patricia Polacco style trouble when I almost teared up reading the inside front cover, and I was near to emotional tears all the way through this book.

I’ve read a lot about the internment of people of Japanese ancestry during WWII, but this was a new part of the story for me. So heartwarming and good to know a person like Clara Breed existed and was there as much as she could be for the children who had used her library prior to their imprisonment.

The illustrations are lovely and I appreciated the included photos. It sounded as though the letters and postcards are in existence so I wish images of even a few of them had made it into the book. The slight story was well told and is a good introduction to what happened to people of Japanese ancestry during the war. I did thoroughly enjoy the book proper and I loved the extras at the end: an author’s note, a list of notable dates in Clara Breed’s life, a selected history of the Japanese people in the United States, Source Notes, Selected Bibliography, Further Reading, and Photo credits.

This is an excellent book for young people and adults too. It grabbed and held my attention and I really liked it. 4-1/2 stars

The artwork in this book is absolutely amazing. Michelle Wood, the illustrator, used Spirituals to give her inspiration for her illustrations. Thirteen different songs are highlighted, such as Jacob's Ladder, Michael Row Your Boat Ashore, Ezekial Saw the Wheel, Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child and more. The origin of the song is explained and the lyrics are included. The illustration is highlighted and some questions are asked. This is a wonderful book that would definitely be a highlight of a Black History Presentation. This should be in every school and public library.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

The weaving in of poetry, slavery, quilt making, and spirituals is powerful in the this collection of poems. Each poem takes you to that time and place and gives you a deep sense of the pain and suffering as well as the triumph and victory of African slaves. This is a great book to include in lessons on slavery.

As I read a longer story about the internment camps I thought that this picture book would be able to complement the more detailed non-fiction books we were assigned in class. Boy was I right! This book gives a softer and yet very real description of what it was like for the Japanese Americans that were forced into internment camps. The author made very wise decisions about what to include in this text so that it is very accessible to younger children. Through short letters, to the librarian that demonstrates her love for the children by sending books, the children tell their story. I was also mesmerized by the illustrations; it looks like colored pencil but with such amazing detail in the color that I have never seen before. Photographs in the beginning and end of the book shed light on the truth told in the book. I would highly recommend this book!

"Write to Me" was an extremely moving book about the movement of Japanese Americans to works camps within the US during World War II. The children kept in touch with their local librarian by sending her penny postcards chronicling their journey, and she continuously sent letters, books, crafting materials and other tangible items to help keep them occupied. The book contains a narrative as well as the postcards that were sent to her by the children. This story demonstrates the kindness of humanity while facing challenging times. It also did a great job showing the appreciation of the young Japanese children and how they were courageous and preserved.

Recommended by Robin R.

A beautiful book in content and execution, Write To Me tells the story of an individual who made a difference to the Japanese-American children who were sent to prison camps during WWII. Clara Breed, a librarian at the East San Diego branch of the San Diego Public Library, said goodbye to her young patrons at the train station, sending them off with stamped postcards and books. The children wrote to her; their words are depicted in handwritten rectangles like the backs of postcards throughout the book, on top of colored pencil illustrations of the prison camps, Ms. Breed's library, and newspaper headlines. When the war ended, some of the children returned and reconnected with their librarian.

Back matter includes an author's note, a timeline of Clara Breed's life, a selected history of Japanese people in the U.S., source notes, a selected bibliography, further reading, and photo credits.

"Americans with the wrong ancestors," Clara Breed, The Horn Book, July 7, 1943

During the Japanese-American relocation to internment camps in California and Arizona, Clara Breed, a devoted librarian, kept in touch with many of the library’s young patrons. This book is a tribute to her great humanity.

Although Ms. Breed’s young patrons were among the most innocent citizens during World War II, with names that included the likes of Anna, Louise, Katherine, Jack and Margaret, they were labelled as dangerous because, “they looked like an enemy of the United States...” Actual postcard messages and pictures of prison detainees are included in the book and share the harshness of life for these children. “They wrote about beauty. They wrote about fear. They all waited for peace”.

The beauty of this true story is that it shows Ms. Breed’s devotion to children through their exchange of letters, her visits and care packages (which included books and postcards) to them and her efforts to inform people across the county of Japanese-American treatment. The timeline at the end of the book and additional sources are invaluable.

Amiko Hirao does a wonderful job in capturing the innocence and everyday life of Ms. Breed and the children.½

Throughout American history, some citizens have had more rights and privileges than others.

When the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, fear and prejudice towards the Japanese reached a fever pitch. These attitudes extended to both citizens and non-citizens of Japanese descent living in the United States.

In 1942 Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. Under the terms of the Order, approximately 120,000 people of Japanese descent living in the US (of whom 70,000 were American citizens) were removed from their homes and placed in internment camps. The US justified its action by claiming that there was a danger of those of Japanese descent spying for the Japanese. However more than two thirds of those interned were American citizens and half of them were children. None had ever shown evidence of disloyalty.

The internees were transported to one of ten relocation centers in California, Utah, Arkansas, Arizona, Idaho, Colorado, and Wyoming for up to 4 years, without due process of law or any factual basis, in bleak, remote camps surrounded by barbed wire and armed guards. Families were crammed into 20- by 25-foot rooms and forced to use communal bathrooms. No razors, scissors, or radios were allowed. Children attended War Relocation Authority schools.

This book tells the story of Clara Estelle Breed, the children’s librarian at the East Branch of the San Diego County Library, which served many Japanese American families. Miss Breed got to know many of these children, and went to the train station to see them off when they were being relocated. She took a bagful of books to give them, as well as stamped, addressed postcards. “‘Write to us,’ Miss Breed said. ‘We’ll want to know where you are.’”

Over the next three years until the war ended, Miss Breed received many postcards from approximately thirty children. At first, they were postmarked from Arcadia, California. She wrote the kids back every week, and sent them boxes of books and more stamped postcards. She also wrote articles for magazines and letters to authorities about the mistreatment of Japanese Americans.

The author used excerpts from the postcards received by Miss Breed, incorporating them into the book. For example, One said:

"Dear Miss Breed,
I was overwhelmed with joy to see the books when the postman opened the package for inspection. Thank you, Miss Breed, Thank you!
Very sincerely yours,
Louise Ogawa"

Miss Breed even took a train to Arcadia and visited the children. But then they were transferred to a prison camp in Poston, Arizona. Miss Breed did not stop trying to lift their spirits however. As the author reports:

“Miss Breed sent them seeds for planting, thread for sewing, and soap for washing. She sent pipe cleaners, crepe paper, pencils, and glue for making crafts.”

The children wrote her back about the crafts they made, the books they were reading, and also about how they were doing and feeling.

In the Author’s Note, we learn that when Miss Breed packed to move to a retirement home, she found the box she had kept of more than 250 letters and postcards she had received during the war. She gave them to Elizabeth Kikuchi Yamada, one of the former children who had corresponded with her. The author reports:

“In 1991 Clara Breed was the honored guest at a reunion for Japanese Americans who had been imprisoned in Poston, Arizona. More than seven hundred people gave her a standing ovation for her kindness, friendship, love, and courage during the war.”

After the Author’s Note, there is a list of notable dates in Clara Breed’s life, a selected history of Japanese people in the United States, source notes, a selected bibliography, photo credits, and suggestions for further reading.

The muted colored-pencil illustrations by Amiko Hirao are lovely, and there are a number of actual photographs included on the end papers.

Evaluation: This book presents an important historical moment from a unique perspective, providing emotion and heart. The connection to a children’s librarian may resonate with young readers, and the reproduction of words from actual postcards add a touching realistic element to the story. There is also a wonderful message, about how one person can provide compassion and relief even when otherwise powerless against larger forces. And with any luck at all, it may help readers understand the injustice and cruelty of locking up children, a practice which is not restricted to the past.

lovely book. It reminded me a lot to paper whishes. We see the love of a librarian to the children that come to read. When all the Japanese-Americans are taken to camps looks for each of them to say goodbye and tells them to write to them. After a long wait she starts receiving postcards of children from different ages where they tell them what life in the internment camps was like. her heart is moved, she wants to help. she starts writing to them and bringing them books. It was so sweet to see the illustrations with the kids postcards. This picture book would go perfect along Paper whishes fo a class about realistic fiction or history of world war II.

WRITE TO ME by Cynthia Grady tells the true story of letters written by Japanese American Children during World War II.

As children leave San Diego for internment camps, librarian Miss Breed gives the children books and postcards. She asks her young patrons to write her about their experiences. The short picture book concludes with an author’s note, timelines, historical information, and further reading. The front and end-pages include historical photos.

Librarians will find this new addition to the well-known story of Miss Breed to fill an important niche in their collection. This picture book would be useful as a read-aloud as well as part of a display including other informational books connected with Japanese American Internment Camps.

Published by Charlesbridge on January 9, 2018. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

The title of this collection of African American spirituals came from a story told by Harriet Tubman, the escaped slave who courageously returned to the South on some thirteen missions to rescue approximately seventy enslaved families and friends.

As the author reports:

“Harriet Tubman, born into slavery around 1820, used to dream that she was flying over the landscape ‘like a bird.’”

The author further notes that while the lives of the enslaved were exceedingly difficult, they used music to help them “pace their movements, lift their spirits, and communicate with one another.”

The main portion of the book showcases thirteen spirituals along with visual interpretations of them by award-winning artist Michele Wood. The songs are shown with both music and lyrics, as well as brief descriptions of the backgrounds and meanings of the songs.

The spirituals selected are old, familiar favorites, at least to me. I remember singing them in elementary school (without being told, of course, that they were slave spirituals).

In contrast to the way picture books are usually made, it was the illustrator who had the concept for the book. She created 13 original acrylic paintings which she submitted to the author who then came up with the accompanying text.

At the end of the book, there are further notes about the lyrics, a glossary, and a selected bibliography.

Evaluation: This book offers a different approach to learning the history of the slave period in America, educating readers on art, music, religious influences, and symbolic elements in the songs.

Spirituals include:

Sometimes I Feel Like a Motherless Child
Ezekiel Saw the Wheel
Jacob’s Ladder
Michael, Row the Boat Ashore
Nobody Knows the Trouble I’ve Seen
Go Down, Moses
Get On Board - the Gospel Train
Deep River
Ain’t Gonna Study War No More
Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho
Steal Away
Oh Peter, Go Ring Them Bells

Using the letters of real children, author Cynthia Grady tells the story of Clara Breed, a Euro-American librarian working in the San Diego Public Library in 1942, when her Japanese-American patrons were interned by the United States government. Determined to keep in touch, Breed gave many of the children she served penny postcards, telling them to write to her. She saw them off at the train station, visited them in Arcadia, California - where they had been taken temporarily - and wrote back and forth, once they were sent to a camp in Poston, Arizona. She sent books, and other necessaries - but most of all she sent (and received) words. Long afterward, at a reunion of Poston survivors, her kindness was remembered and applauded by the children who had been imprisoned by the own country, but not forgotten by their local librarian...

Although I have read other books about the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II - my introduction to the subject came in Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston's memoir, Farewell to Manzanar, which I read as an adolescent - I had never heard of Clara Breed, before picking up this poignant work of picture-book history. I'm glad to have that gap in my knowledge filled, as I found her story, and the stories (however abbreviated) of the children who wrote to her, immensely moving. Grady's book is a timely reminder that even when governments do unjust things,even when we feel we have little impact on the larger events transpiring around us, we as individual citizens still have a choice to do what is right, and remain true to our humanity. Clara Breed's actions weren't limited to acts of kindness toward the children of a persecuted minority, in a time of war, they also included public, written criticism of government policies to which she objected. That this criticism could be found in the pages of The Horn Book Magazine, one of America's longest established periodicals for the review and discussion of children's books, makes me particularly happy, as I am a strong believer in the potential that children's literature holds, as a means of encouraging tolerance, and positive social change.

Informative, and emotionally resonant, Write to Me is an important addition to the body of children's books addressing the internment of Japanese-American citizens during World War II. The text is powerful, including as it does the snippets of actual letters, and the artwork by Amiko Hirao is lovely, in an impressionistic way that ably captures the emotional impact of each scene. Recommended to anyone looking for stories related to this subject. It can be paired with picture-books about the actual experiences of interned children, such as Baseball Saved Us, by Ken Mochizuki, or Home of the Brave by Allen Say. Also recommended in this line is the lovely picture-book, Naomi's Tree, by Joy Kogawa, which illustrated that (sadly) the internment of people of Japanese ancestry also occurred in Canada.

Fantastic collection of poems that paint pictures of the American slave's world, and then underneath each poem is an explanation of the conditions that led to that poem's sentiment. Every picture alongside each page is worthy of being on the wall. This book is a true work of art.