The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden

Starred review from August 19, 2019
In a story based on a garden telephone booth and the 2011 tsunami that hit Japan, Smith (The Agony of Bun O’Keefe) imagines a Japanese boy named Makio and his neighbor, Mr. Hirota. Each morning, the two vie to spot Makio’s fisherman father as he unloads the day’s catch, and Mr. Hirota’s daughter, who helps to clean the fish (“It was one of their favorite games”). But Makio’s father and Mr. Hirota’s daughter are both lost in a giant wave—Wada illustrates with strongly composed watercolor spreads whose masses of black shadow convey foreboding and sorrow—and Makio, grief-stricken, stops speaking. Mr. Hirota builds a white phone booth in his garden, the telephone “connected to nowhere.” Makio watches him enter it to talk to his dead daughter, and other villagers begin visiting it, too. After screaming at the ocean, which offers only its customary response, Makio decides to try the phone booth himself. “Guess what? I did really well on my math test. ...I miss you, Dad.” Speaking directly to his departed family about ordinary events gives Makio his voice back and helps him traverse grief. An affecting, well-rendered resource for talking about catastrophes and grief both personal and communal. Ages 6–8.

November 1, 2019
Makio visits his neighbor Mr. Hirota each day to look down at the harbor, where his father and Mr. Hirota's daughter work. One day during this ritual, a tsunami strikes. "A big, watery hand swept into the harbor, snatching everything-and everyone-in its grasp." The ink and watercolor illustrations become dark and somber as the quietly powerful text acknowledges the community's grief: "Silence hung over the village like a dark, heavy cloud." Then Mr. Hirota builds a phone booth in his garden and, inexplicably, begins talking to his dead daughter; when Makio tries the phone, he is confused and disappointed to find that it is "connected to nowhere." But as the days pass, many of the villagers enter the phone booth to speak to those they mourn. Eventually, Makio returns to Mr. Hirota's phone booth and talks to his father, ending with "I miss you, Dad." In sweeping spreads, the haunting art uses color and line to convey Makio's emotions. The conversations resonating from inside the phone booth make subtle connections among family members and villagers. An author's note explains that the story's inspiration comes from a real phone booth built by Itaru Sasaki in Otsuchi, Japan, which drew thousands of mourners hoping to connect with loved ones lost in the 2011 tsunami. This tender look at both personal and community loss shows how we begin to take the first small, difficult steps toward healing. Julie Roach

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 15, 2019
When tragedy strikes a Japanese fishing community, a young boy navigates grief with the help of a neighbor. Every day, Makio and his elderly neighbor, Mr. Hirota, play a game spotting family members working on the shore cleaning the catch of the day. Suddenly an earthquake strikes, and the two watch in horror as their loved ones are caught in the ensuing tsunami. "Everyone lost someone the day the big wave came. / Silence hung over the village like a dark, heavy cloud." Makio has not spoken since but curiously watches as Mr. Hirota builds a telephone booth in his garden to talk to his lost daughter, Fumika. Soon other members of the community use the booth to talk to their lost ones: "Hello, cousin. Today I fixed the boat. I will fish again soon." Intrigued, Makio sneaks into the booth, finding a disconnected phone and the courage to finally say aloud, "I miss you, Dad." Basing her story on the tsunami that struck Otsuchi, Japan, in 2011, Smith uses a reverent, poetic tone that is heightened by Wada's mixed media illustrations. Wada uses a hybrid of Japanese art styles to mirror the grieving process, with the tragedy expressed in a dark gray palette, gradually underlined by pops of color and eventually giving way to a warmly colored pastel spread. A beautifully rendered tale of loss, love, grief, and gentle healing. (author's note) (Picture book. 6-8)

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Starred review from September 1, 2019

K-Gr 3-Grief and healing are explored in this gentle picture book inspired by real events. In 2011, a giant tsunami hit the coast of northeastern Japan, destroying entire villages and taking the lives of thousands. In spare prose, Smith spins a quietly moving narrative that highlights the remarkable way one village found healing in the aftermath of the disaster. As young Makio mourns the death of his fisherman father, he notices his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, building something mysterious: a phone booth with a disconnected telephone. Even stranger, Mr. Hirota uses the "phone connected to nowhere" to speak to his daughter who died in the tsunami. Soon, other villagers flock to the phone booth to "call" their lost loved ones. Although Makio is still processing the anger and trauma that goes hand-in-hand with grief, he decides to try the phone himself and finds a sense of peace at last. Wada's large-scale woodblock style illustrations, with their evocative use of color to convey emotion, are a perfect complement to the story's restrained text. Best shared with an adult who can provide context for the tragedy, young readers will find much to discuss here, ranging from how tsunamis work to the true story of the phone booth and the various ways people cope with loss. VERDICT The graceful way in which this book handles a sensitive and serious subject makes it a first purchase for most picture book collections.-Allison Tran, Mission Viejo Library, CA

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2019
Makio's father and Mr. Hirota's daughter work at the harbor. One day, while Makio and Mr. Hirota watch, a tsunami strikes. Mr. Hirota builds a phone booth to talk to his dead daughter; Makio is disappointed that it's "connected to nowhere" until the villagers use it to speak to those lost. The quietly powerful text acknowledges the community's grief; the haunting art conveys Makio's emotions. This tender look at loss is inspired by real events following Japan's 2011 tsunami.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from June 1, 2019
Grades K-2 *Starred Review* Loss, grief, and gradual acceptance are beautifully covered in a moving tale based on events that took place in Japan. Makio's father, as well as the daughter of his neighbor, Mr. Hirota, are both swept out to sea when a tsunami hits the shore of their fishing village: Everyone lost someone the day the big wave came. Some time after that tragic day, Makio watches as his neighbor builds a phone booth on a hill overlooking the ocean. Inside the booth sits a telephone that connects to nothing but brings consolation to the villagers who wish to communicate with their lost loved ones. Atmospheric watercolors and pencil-and-ink illustrations are digitally assembled and deftly display the sadness felt by the boy and older man. Dark illustrations reflect the destruction, while hope and healing are revealed in the gradual lightening of the pictures. One poignant painting shows the child sitting at the end of a pier, remembering a time, mirrored on the water, when he and his father held hands before their lives were changed forever. The idea of finding a way to talk with people who have passed on offers comfort and peace to those left behind.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)