Book details

Macmillan Children's Book

Yukie's Island

My Family's World War II Story

Author: Yukie Kimura, Kōdo Kimura, and Steve Sheinkin; illustrated by Kōdo Kimura

Yukie's Island

Yukie's Island

$19.99

About This Book

A moving picture book autobiography about a family’s resilience and path to healing after the devastation of war.

It's 1945, the final year of World War II. Yukie Kimura...

Page Count
48
On Sale
07/18/2023
Age Range
4-8

Book Details

A moving picture book autobiography about a family’s resilience and path to healing after the devastation of war.

It's 1945, the final year of World War II. Yukie Kimura is eight years old. She lives on a tiny island with a lighthouse in the north of Japan with her family, and she knows that the fighting that once felt so far away is getting closer.

Mornings spent helping her father tend to the lighthouse and adventuring with her brother are replaced by weeks spent inside, waiting. At some point, Yukie knows, they may be bombed.

Then, it happens. One Sunday, bombs are dropped. The war ends soon after that. Everyone tells Yukie there's nothing to be scared of anymore, but she's not so sure. So she watches and she waits—until a miraculous sight finally allows her to be a kid again.

This is the true story of Yukie Kimura told in her own words, co-created with her son, illustrator Kodo Kimura, and co-written with bestselling Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin. Yukie's Island is an honest, thoughtful, and stirring picture book about being a child living through wartime.

Imprint Publisher

Roaring Brook Press

ISBN

9781250206503

In The News

A 2024 Notable Social Studies Trade Book
A Freeman Book Award Notable Book

"In simple text and pastoral illustrations, this book offers a look at how war affects children... An accessible and compelling book on a tough topic. Purchase for a unique perspective on World War II. " —School Library Journal, starred review

"
Insightful and compassionate, this lightly fictionalized recounting brings welcome insight about children in conflicts and lends humanity to the ravages of war." —Booklist

"The first-person narrative is simple and direct, with the childlike tone giving particular poignancy to a callous act of war and making Yukie’s experience urgent and immediate." — The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"[A] story of wartime endurance." — Publisher's Weekly

About the Creators

Yukie's Island

Yukie's Island

$19.99