Tatsuharu Kodama

I think that "Shin's Tricycle" was a good book, albeit morbid, and I enjoyed reading it. I liked that the story was told from a perspective that is not often shared, that of a civilian survivor of the 1945 bombing of Hiroshima. I particularly liked the ways in which the author and illustrator portrayed the emotions of those who experienced the bombing. The sudden, abrupt change between the pages depicting the moments before the attack and the moments afterwards helped me as a reader to understand how shocked the civilians of Hiroshima were at the bombing. While the page prior to the attack shows a peaceful village full of smiling people, bright colors, and little Shin riding his red tricycle, the next page is filled with images of black smoke and rubble as a result of the chaos immediately following the bombing. I also think that the main character, Nubuo, did a good job of expressing the hurt and heartbreak he felt when he lost all three of his young children as a result of the bombing. The moment in which he, his wife, and Kimiko's mother dug up Shin's and Kimiko's skeletal remains, still hand in hand, was heartbreaking. While the story was incredibly sad, I really liked the "big idea." The book not only served to educate readers about how it felt to be a victim of such a tragic event, it also expressed the importance of turning tragedies into learning experiences. After digging up Shin's tricycle, Nuobo donated it to the Hiroshima Peace Museum so that others could better understand just how devastating Hiroshima was to its victims, and so that they could see that children were among those killed by the bomb and its after-effects. The only thing that I did not like about the book was that it was so sad that it was difficult to finish. I would give the book 4 stars.… (meer)

Summary: The story was written fifty years after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The father narrates the story about how his young son, Shin, begged for a red tricycle. Shin was impatient and he constantly told his sisters and best friend about how he would have this bike, until one day his uncle gave one to him. The day he got the red tricycle, Hiroshima was attacked. Shin’s parents were covered in head to toe, but did everything they could to find their children. Unfortunately, Shin’s two sisters, Michiko and Yoko, did not make it passed the initial attacked and Shin passed away not long after. Their parents did everything they could in the next fifty years to honor their children. The children were honored and when asked about their children, the parents spoke highly of them and what they sacrificed at such young ages.

Review: A very sad and very true story that Kodama shares with readers helps show the central message of unconditional love. So many times our children tell their parents that they do not listen or that they do not care, but this books shows young readers that that is not the case. After losing three children, Shin's parents carried out their love for their children. Throughout the entire book it shows how parents grieve and lift up their children in anyway possible. Shin's parents honored him by burying him with his childhood best friend of all three years. Shin's parents could have buried him with his family, but they knew what Shin would have wanted. They continued doing small gestures for their children fifty years after the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Fifty years later they went back to the spot they buried Shin at and the last bit of honor they could give him, they did. His tricycle is now in display at the Peace Museum for remembrance.… (meer)