Books

The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki

By Sue Mantle Dicicco (Author), Masahiro Sasaki (Author), Tuttle Publishing May 7, 2020
Where to Buy

Support BOA by ordering The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki through these links:

Amazon U.S.
Amazon Japan

Thanks for helping support Books on Asia!

“Cry when you need to if you have a lot of troubles, but grow up with a kind heart, filled with compassion” —Masahiro Sasaki (brother of Sadako)

Anyone who has been to the Hiroshima Peace Park in Western Japan will remember seeing the Children’s Peace Monument that features Sadako Sasaki standing on top, reaching for the stars. Her famous story can be recited by any Japanese person, and her memorial is constantly heaped with long colorful strands of paper cranes donated by school children and others. But who exactly was Sadako? What was she like before the Atomic Bomb dropped on her city? And why has she been memorialized over the thousands of other children who met the same fate? What is it that made Sadako such an extraordinary child?

This is the story of a civilian family living with the effects of the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima at the end of WWII. Sadako’s older brother fills in some of the missing information about Sadako’s childhood and her family which are integral to her story. It also tells the significance of cranes and the number ‘one thousand’ and informs how the Children’s Peace Monument came to be. Readers will learn important vocabulary such as hibakusha (survivors of the atomic bomb) and Japanese concepts such as omoiyari-no-kokoro (compassion for all people, no matter what their situation). Paper crane drawings drifting among the pages, and black and white photos of Sadako, her father and brother make for lovely additions to the text. A heartfelt Epilogue written by her brother Masahiro (also an Atomic Bomb survivor) reminds readers why we must all strive for world peace.