Welcome to Cantastic Authorpalooza, featuring posts by and about great Canadian children’s book creators! Today’s guest: Jennifer Maruno. Take it away, Jennifer!
Chidori is the story of the 2011 Japanese earthquake and tsunami, told from the point of view of a young girl who must wait with her class on the roof of her school, watching the monster tide consume everything in its wake.
Why did I write this book? Natural disasters are becoming more common as the climate of our Earth changes. Many children in North America have not experienced the devastation of an earthquake or tsunami first hand. I was hoping to create empathy for those who do suffer natural disasters.
The starting point for peace is understanding someone else’s pain. Feeling pain is what makes us human and develops into empathy. Having empathy means you are able to share other people’s feelings and respond with compassion. Empathy is a key ingredient in learning to be generous and less retaliative. People who are empathetic demonstrate less bias and systematic racism.
Hana’s mother is washed away. At first, she denies her loss. She accepts it when her father arrives with her grandmother instead. There will always be rest after nature’s wrath, but it is recovery that takes time. Grief doesn’t actually get smaller. Life around gets larger with new beginnings and new experiences. Hana’s new experience was learning to paint like her mother.
Eiko Kitagawa Maruno, Sumi-e artist
Many people find solace in art. Sumi means ink,-e means picture. It is a contemplative art which expresses the essence of a subject, keeping with the Japanese Zen philosophy. Sumi-e only uses ink and space to create balance and harmony that is pleasing to the eye, mind and soul. Hana chose to honour her mother in a unique way by painting the shore birds that her mother loved. She painted them ascending the hill to the rock where they used to meet after school.
I have a very personal connection to Chidori. My mother-in-law Eiko Kitagawa Maruno is an honoured member of the Sumi-e Artists of Canada. Eiko took painting lessons as late as her 85th year. Each level that she achieved, she was rewarded with a stamp. The sumi-e stamp is used like a signature. Stamps are awarded by a teacher after a student has achieved a particular level of expertise. Eiko was awarded several stamps. She often signed her name below her stamp to honour her Canadian birth and heritage.
Many of her beautiful works hang in our house, always evoking wonderful memories of her life and the losses she had to overcome during the Japanese internment of WW2.
I was thrilled to have Miki Sato illustrate the manuscript. She brought amazing energy, texture and solace to the pages. I hope after reading this book children and adults will attempt this ancient art of brush painting.
Brush painting by Eiko Kitakawa Maruno