Based on the author’s true family history, this picture book about Japanese American incarceration in Hawai'i during World War II is a moving tribute to the importance of finding and collecting pieces of hope, big or small, even in the darkest of times.
Grandfather loved music, seashells, and the sound of the ocean in Hawai'i. But when war came, there was no more music. And in this war, there was no kindness for anyone who looked Japanese.
Taken to an island prison, Grandfather passed many long, lonely days away from his family searching for tiny seashells. He collected the shells, labelled them, and saved them with care. His collection has been passed down to his children and grandchildren, and now, author-illustrator Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson tells the story of her grandfather and his shells.
[T]his harrowing picture book manages to capture both the cruelty of humanity and the beauty of nature, emphasizing the idea that the latter will always outweigh the former. The shell makes a particularly good metaphor, scooped out of life and seemingly empty but filled with beauty and music if one is willing to spend a bit more time with it.
A set of tiny seashells anchors this personal telling of Japanese American incarceration during WWII.
Sometimes a child's story touches the struggles and joys of the young. Other times it also profoundly illuminates something larger. Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson's magnificent book Shell Song tells of children listening to the echoes of grandfather's sea shells from Hawai`i. It deftly locates grandfather's long-ago discovery of those shells in a desolate WWII US government built prison camp for innocent Japanese Americans. And it shines a gentle yet bright light on what happened when "There was no justice. Not for my grandfather. Not for any Japanese Americans." A poignant, loving story for children, for us all.
Building on family lore and extensive historical research, Sharon Fujimoto-Johnson has crafted a moving and beautifully illustrated story based on the World War II incarceration of her Japanese American grandfather in Hawai`i along with the echoes of that story that she learned about in childhood and that continue to the present day. Both a story of historical memory and family through generations and a cautionary tale, Shell Song will be enjoyed by children and by their parents and grandparents alike.
