Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden [Minkštas viršelis]

? “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.

Key Selling Points

• Inspired by the true story of the wind phone in Otsuchi, Japan, which was created by artist Itaru Sasaki. The Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011 destroyed the town of Otsuchi, claiming 10 percent of the population. Residents and pilgrims from other affected communities have been travelling to the wind phone since the tsunami.
• The first edition of this bestselling title received four separate starred reviews from Kirkus, Booklist, Publishers Weekly and School Library Journal.
• It is also the winner of the 2020 International Board of Books for Young People (IBBY) Canada Elizabeth Mrazik-Cleaver Canadian Picture Book Award and the 2019 Freeman Book Award, was shortlisted for the 2020 Christie Harris Illustrated Children's Literature Prize and was nominated for the 2021 Forest of Reading Silver Birch Express Award, among other commendations.
• Heather Smith is an award-winning author of multiple books for kids, including The Boy, the Cloud and the Very Tall Tale, A Plan for Pops and Waking Ben Doldrums.

This gorgeously illustrated picture book tells the story of a young Japanese boy who loses his dad in a tsunami.