The Peace Tree from Hiroshima: The Little Bonsai with a Big Story

K-Gr 2—Based on actual events, this picture book tells the story of an almost 400-year-old bonsai tree that survived the Hiroshima bombing. The small pine tree began its life on the beautiful forested island of Miyajima, near Hiroshima. A man named Itaro found the tree and carefully removed it, as "a souvenir of this island, of the trees that touched my heart." Itaro cared for it for 50 years and shaped it into a bonsai tree. Itaro's family continued to look after the tree for generations. Eventually the family moved to Hiroshima, and when the first atomic bomb was dropped, it exploded just two miles from their home. Somehow the family survived the terrible devastation and resumed their routine, including caring for their bonsai. In 1976, Masaru, a devoted caretaker of the tree since before the war, chose to give the plant as part of a special bicentennial gift to the United States. The little bonsai ended up at the National Arboretum, where the staff deemed it the Peace Tree. Presented against a crisp white background, the attractive illustrations add details and context. Told in the first person from the tree's point of view, this gentle story can be used as a simple introduction to an aspect of Japanese culture and a difficult moment in history. Facts about bonsai trees round out the book.