[Libs-Or] Japan/America Picture Book - Oregon Reads

Thu Dec 18 08:12:08 PST 2008

Below is information from an email I got from a local author about her new book that may be good resource for your upcoming Oregon Reads events.  This is not an endorsement, please refer to your collection development policy to make sure it is a good fit for your library.

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us, 503-378-2528

Title:  In My Day:  Journey for a Day to Japan and America During the Early 1900s
Japanese Version Title:  Watashi no Ichinichi

ISBN/EAN13:  In My Day 143820731X / 9781438207315 ;  Watashi no Ichinichi 143824326X / 9781438243269 

Description:  Journey for a day with two children: a girl in Japan and a boy in America during the early 1900s.  Can they have anything in common living thousands of miles apart?  The book celebrates the contrasting cultures of nostalgic Japan and America through word and pictures, but also concludes that individuals from those contrasting cultures have many things in common.

Author & Illustrator Bio:  June Atsuko Martel was born and raised in Japan.  She met her husband, Joe, while he was serving in the military in 1948, and they married in 1951. Shortly after, they moved to the United States where she earned an art drawing certificate from Art Instruction Inc.  They now live in Bend, Oregon and have two children and four grandchildren.  She published In My Day in 2008 in collaboration with her husband and daughter.

Where to Buy:  Amazon.com http://www.amazon.com/My-Day-Journey-America-during/dp/143820731X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1229563439&sr=1-1 and CAMALLI BOOK COMPANY in Bend, Oregon at 1288 SW Simpson, Suite C 

For More Information:  Please visit KobosBooks.web.officelive.com 

To: sbeelmann at hotmail.com
From: anderson_katie at oslmac.osl.state.or.us
Subject: RE: Japan/America Picture Book - Oregon Authors
Date: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 15:20:35 -0800

Hello!  I'm a member of the Oregon Reads 2009 Task Force.  You recently emailed our website about your new books that tie in with the Oregon Reads theme.  I'm happy to send an email out about your books on our electronic discussion list for Oregon libraries, but this html format will not work because it becomes gobldy-gook.  If you email me in plain text the title information, brief description, brief author bio, and where libraries can purchase the book I'd be happy to send it out.

Let me know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Katie

Katie Anderson, Library Development Services
* Youth Services Consultant * Oregon Center for the Book Coordinator *
Oregon State Library, 250 Winter St. NE, Salem, OR 97301
katie.anderson at state.or.us, 503-378-2528

From: absherl at pdx.edu
To: Katie Anderson [mailto:anderson_katie at oslmac.osl.state.or.us], June Knudson [mailto:june.knudson at co.hood-river.or.us], willsons at pdx.edu
Sent: Wed, 17 Dec 2008 14:30:32 -0800
Subject: Fwd: Japan/America Picture Book - Oregon Authors

Announcing Our New Picture Books.

In My Day  and Watashi no Ichinichi (in Japanese)
Journey for a day to Japan & America during the early 1900s

My parents and I recently published In My Day, a picture book that helps educate others about a different place and time ... Japan and America in the early 1900s.
The book is based on my parents' personal childhood recollections:  My mother was raised in Japan and my father in New England.  My mother's colorfully detailed drawings bring to life sights and feelings of contrasting cultures in a nostalgic era.

In My Day follows two children, one in Japan and the other in America, through a typical day in the early 1900s.  The book's layout is designed to encourage conversation.   Side-by-side drawings pair Japan with America, each providing a glimpse into a part of everyday life.  Open-ended questions encourage dialogue.  We hope the book will spur conversations about everyday life and trigger memories that are shared, learned from, and treasured.
  In My Day gives readers a better understanding of different cultures, a different era, and hopefully, gives the reader a long-lasting treasure of their own family's history and heritage.

In My Day and the Japanese version Watashi no Ichinichi are available as 30-page full-color soft-cover books on Amazon.com
FREE SHIPPING on orders over $25!

In My Day
in English
Watashi no Ichinichi
in Japanese

Book Review by Merrianne Metzger, PhD Educational Psychology

Bend Bulletin Newspaper Article Extract
Published by David Jasper, July 6, 2008
Bend, Oregon; Photo by Andy Tullis

". a fun read and real teaching tool. What a good way for an adult and child to explore a shared history!"
I realized In My Day was a picture book with a fresh message, but I didn't know how special it was until I rounded up 4 of my neighbors (ages 7-11) and asked them to read it. I did tell them the purpose of the book was to compare the cultures of two different countries in the early 1900s. Here is what they liked:
1. The detailed illustrations charmed them. They especially liked the opposing pages so they could look back and forth and compare. They noticed and remarked about many more details than I had even seen.
2. The fact that there were questions impressed them and they said it made them think. One remarked that it was like a history lesson.
3. One child said she liked the onomatopoeia. (My jaw dropped.) Once she explained it was a word like "squish" that imitates a sound, everyone else enthusiastically agreed.

When she draws picture books for her family members, June Atsuko Martel prays for them.  With each illustration she drew for the children's book "In My Day," she didn't pray for herself, or for a publishing deal.
Instead, Martel, of Bend, prayed for others.  
The 78-year-old grandmother of four was born and raised in Japan. Her voice is barely above a whisper, but you're rapt when she says, "Each picture I draw, I give prayers."   She prays for "all the children in the world, that they may be able to read.  I wish them happy life."
Martel recently self-published "In My Day" along with co-authors Joe Martel, 79, her husband, and Sandy Beelmann, 46, their daughter.  The paperback book depicts a typical day in the early 20th century life of two children in Japan and the United States, respectively, showing the parallels and differences in their lives.  ."It would be so nice if all the children could see and learn something from what we did," June says. "That is (the) ultimate to me."
Short questions follow each two-page segment, offering children an opportunity to reflect on their lives. Another goal is  .to see an older person sit down with someone younger and share it.
The Martels tapped into their individual memories for the book: June grew up outside of Yokohama, Japan, on Tokyo Bay.  Joe grew up on a farm in Connecticut.

Happy Holidays!
Please feel free to forward this email to anyone you think may be interested, and please visit our website at KobosBooks.web.officelive.com
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