About this item
How daring is Chiyo prepared to be to keep the American Friendship Doll safe? Inspired by a little-known historical event, this engaging companion to Ship of Dolls is told from a Japanese girl's point of view.When eleven-year-old Chiyo Tamura is sent from her home in a small Japanese mountain village to a girls' school in the city of Tsuchiura, she never imagines that she will soon be in Tokyo helping to welcome more than twelve thousand Friendship Dolls from America - including Emily Grace, a gift to her own school. Nor could she dream that she'd have an important role in the crafting of Miss Tokyo, one of fifty-eight Japanese dolls to be sent to America in return. But when an excited Chiyo is asked to be Emily Grace's official protector, one jealous classmate will stop at nothing to see her fail. How can Chiyo reveal the truth - and restore her own good name? In another heartwarming historical novel, the author of Ship of Dolls revisits the 1926 Friendship Doll exchange, in which teacher-missionary Sidney Gulick organized American children to send thousands of dolls to Japan in hopes of avoiding a future war.
About the Author
BEARS IN A BAND GOES INTO SECOND PRINTING! I was thrilled to receive a package from Candlewick with two copies of Bears in a Band. The book was released in February and in March, has already been reprinted. It's the 5th in the series with Bears in Snow scheduled for October 2016. I am having so much fun with these little bears!NEWS OF THE DOLLS:I'm excited to see that DOLLS OF HOPE, the sequel to my middle-grade novel SHIP OF DOLLS is currently offered for pre-order from several online outlets. Release date for the novel, which tells the story of the Friendship Dolls of 1926 and '27 from the viewpoint of a girl in Japan, is September 22, 2015. Artist Kelly Murphy has created distinctive covers for both books.SHIP OF DOLLS became available in August of 2014 with terrific reviews. It's become a Top Pick at www.LitPick.com, a site dedicated to books read and reviewed by young readers. SHIP OF DOLLS is based on a true event when, in 1926, American children sent more than 12,000 dolls to children in Japan to create friendship in the hope of preventing future war between the two countries. In return, Japanese children helped send 58 large dolls in kimonos, with many accessories, to American children in time for Christmas of 1927.NEWS OF THE BEARS:BEARS AND A BIRTHDAY was released in March, the fourth in my series of picture books. BEARS IN A BAND and BEARS IN SNOW will follow. All the books are adorably illustrated by artist David Walker.The little bears from my picture book series have become available on multiple items at www.zazzle.com. The company worked with Candlewick Press to create a Bears on Chairs store. I've ordered a coffee mug and two magnets featuring the bears, so far, and am delighted with them. Calico Bear looking out from his magnet makes me smile every time I open the fridge.My little bears are becoming world travelers. A German publisher has published the second and third book in the series and will be publishing the first and fourth, as well. I've received copies of the books translated by a publisher in Finland into four languages, Finnish, Danish, Swedish and Norwegian. I love knowing that children in so many countries are enjoying the stories! Artist David Walker, creator of the wonderfully huggable illustrations, was invited to visit Japanese book stores by our Japanese publisher this past summer. He and our editor visited bookstores in Tokyo and Osaka where the bears were welcomed by hundreds of young readers.I'm thrilled to be one of 16 Novelists Inc. authors included in a new anthology called I Never Thought I'd See You Again. All the stories use the title theme. The cover is a wonderfully evocative picture of a mossy pier stretching into a dark lake. I hope you'll take a look. It's Available now! After years of writing in other fields, I'm having so much fun with stories of the little bears begun as BEARS ON CHAIRS, published by Candlewick Press both as a picture book and as a tod
