{"id":32682,"date":"2018-12-05T23:50:56","date_gmt":"2018-12-06T03:50:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32682"},"modified":"2018-12-05T23:52:47","modified_gmt":"2018-12-06T03:52:47","slug":"review-of-are-you-an-echo-by-misuzu-kaneko","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sonderbooks.com\/blog\/?p=32682","title":{"rendered":"Review of Are You an Echo? by Misuzu Kaneko"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Are You an Echo?<\/p>\n

The Lost Poetry of Misuzu Kaneko<\/em><\/p>\n

Poems by Misuzu Kaneko
\nIllustrated by Toshikado Hajiri
\nNarrative by David Jacobson
\nwith translations and editorial contributions by Sally Ito and Michiko Tsuboi<\/p>\n

Chin Music Press, Seattle, 2016. 64 pages.
\nStarred Review<\/p>\n

As soon as you touch this book, you know it\u2019s something special. You can feel the high-quality paper, which seems appropriate for a book of Japanese poems.<\/p>\n

This is a book of poetry from Japan\u2019s most-loved children\u2019s poet, but it\u2019s also a biography and the story of uncovering Misuzu\u2019s story.<\/p>\n

The book begins with Setsuo Yazaki, who read one of Misuzu\u2019s poems and wanted to find out more about her. He was the one who uncovered her diaries and made public her life story, as well as many more unpublished poems. She is now widely read by children in Japan. Along with telling this story, on each spread one of her poems is given.<\/p>\n

Then the book tells Misuzu\u2019s life story, still accompanied by her poems. Her story is a tragic one. She was given \u201ca disease that caused her great pain\u201d by her \u201cbad, unfaithful husband.\u201d She was married for four years, but after she left, her husband was going to take their child away. The book lingers on her last night with her child, then tells us:<\/p>\n

Misuzu wrote a letter that night asking her husband to give Fusae to her mother.
\nShe was weak from the illness and determined not to let her husband take their child.
\nSo she decided to end her life. She was only twenty-six years old.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On the opposite page, we\u2019ve got Misuzu\u2019s poem, \u201cCocoon and Grave\u201d comparing a person to a silkworm. Like the silkworm becoming a butterfly, \u201cthe good person will grow wings, become an angel and fly away.\u201d<\/p>\n

The narrative part goes on to talk about how Misuzu\u2019s poems were rediscovered after her death and went on to have special significance after the tsunami in 2011.<\/p>\n

The book finishes with a collection of 15 more poems by Misuzu, with the original Japanese shown as well.<\/p>\n

Despite Misuzu Kaneko\u2019s tragic life story, this lovely book expresses hope, and shows the beauty of looking at the world with eyes of kindness and empathy.<\/p>\n

How can you help but like someone with this philosophy?<\/p>\n

TO LIKE IT ALL<\/p>\n

I want to like everything \u2013<\/p>\n

onions, tomatoes, fish \u2013
\nI want to like them all,<\/p>\n

everything in the meals
\nmy mother makes.<\/p>\n

I want to like everyone \u2013<\/p>\n

doctors, crows \u2013
\nall of them, too.<\/p>\n

Everything and everyone in the world
\nGod has made.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

www.chinmusicpress.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Buy from Amazon.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Find this review on Sonderbooks<\/a> at: www.sonderbooks.com\/Childrens_Nonfiction\/are_you_an_echo.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Disclosure: I am an Amazon Affiliate, and will earn a small percentage if you order a book on Amazon after clicking through from my site.<\/p>\n

Source: This review is based on a library book from Fairfax County Public Library.<\/p>\n

Disclaimer: I am a professional librarian, but I maintain my website and blogs on my own time. The views expressed are solely my own, and in no way represent the official views of my employer or of any committee or group of which I am part.<\/p>\n

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