The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781459821033)

★ "Smith spins a quietly moving narrative...Wada's large-scale woodblock style illustrations are a perfect complement to the story's restrained text...The graceful way in which this book handles a sensitive and serious subject makes it a first purchase."--School Library Journal

When the tsunami destroyed Makio's village, Makio lost his father . . . and his voice. The entire village is silenced by grief, and the young child's anger at the ocean grows. Then one day his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, begins a mysterious project--building a phone booth in his garden. At first Makio is puzzled; the phone isn't connected to anything. It just sits there, unable to ring. But as more and more villagers are drawn to the phone booth, its purpose becomes clear to Makio: the disconnected phone is connecting people to their lost loved ones. Makio calls to the sea to return what it has taken from him and ultimately finds his voice and solace in a phone that carries words on the wind.

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden is inspired by the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, which was created by artist Itaru Sasaki. He built the phone booth so he could speak to his cousin who had passed, saying, "My thoughts couldn't be relayed over a regular phone line, I wanted them to be carried on the wind." The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the town of Otsuchi, claiming 10 percent of the population. Residents of Otsuchi and pilgrims from other affected communities have been traveling to the wind phone since the tsunami.

Author: Heather Smith
ISBN-10: 1459821033
ISBN-13: 9781459821033
Publisher: Orca Book Publishers
Language: English
Published: 09/17/2019
Pages: 32
Format: Hardcover
Weight: 0.90lbs
Size: 10.90h x 8.00w x 0.50d

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 2.3
Point Value: 0.5
Interest Level: Lower Grade
Quiz #/Name: 507861 / Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden


Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 06/15/2019 pg. 123
Booklist 06/01/2019 pg. 105
Publishers Weekly 08/19/2019
Kirkus Reviews Fall Preview 08/15/2019 pg. 63
School Library Journal 09/01/2019 pg. 107
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 10/01/2019
Horn Book Magazine 11/01/2019 pg. 76
Hornbook Guide to Children 07/01/2019 - Superior,Well Above Average