  | Listening to trees : George Nakashima, woodworker Author: Thompson, Holly | |
| Price: $23.78 | ||
Summary:
A picture book biography celebrating the life and work of the visionary Japanese American woodworker George Nakashima.
| Illustrator: | Nakamura, Toshiki |
Reviews:
Booklist (10/15/24)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 10/15/2024 At the heart of this inspiring picture-book biography is a prison camp in the Idaho desert, where the U.S. government wrongfully incarcerated thousands of Japanese Americans during WWII, including young architect and woodworker George Nakashima and his family. There Nakashima repurposed his life, committing to woodworking, just as he later repurposed fallen trees, transforming them into beautiful pieces of furniture (some of his work is displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art) and even gigantic peace altars for six continents. Prior to WWII, Nakashima’s vocation evolved alongside his travels from the Pacific Northwest to Tokyo and India, and readers see his skill developing with each stint, until, after his incarceration, he and his family establish their own woodworking shop. The dark, rich illustrations beautifully evoke forests. Throughout, the pages feature “haibun,” the pairing of prose text with a haiku poem, lending each page the feeling of an action or landscape alongside the facts. A moving story of family, resilience, and sustainability. - Copyright 2024 Booklist.
