I have a soft spot for children's stories that represent stories of other cultures. It gives me hope that a new generation of children will be able to learn more about the world around them at a young age, a privilege I did not have growing up. A Bowl Full of Peace is unique in that it is a true story. It follows the story of a young Sachiko and her family living in Nagasaki during WWII. As the war progresses up through the atomic bombing of Nagasaki, her family is not free from its aftermath. As her family grows smaller, they stick together and gather to honor the family members who have left.

I personally like that this story doesn't shy away from the after effects of the atomic bombings of Nagasaki in WWII. I think it is important for children to learn about the realities of history from a young age. However, it is a children's story, so it is delicately done and the heart of the story focuses on Sachiko's family relationship and how their family sticks together through all of the events they go through.

Thank you Net Galley for the opportunity to review this book for my honest opinion.
This was a sad, beautiful story about the nuclear bomb effects on a family living in Nagasaki when the nuclear bomb was dropped. The story centers around the main character's grandmother's green bowl that survives many generations and the bombing. The story is a true story based upon just one of the survivor families. The illustrations are beautiful. I'd say this is good for ages 8-10.

A Bowl Full of Peace is a non-fiction picture book about a family in Nagasaki Japan and the effect the atomic bomb had on their life. The author wrote this book based on interviews with Sachiko Yasui who was a young girl when the bomb fell in her city. The story is centered around her grandmother's bowl, which holds a place of honor in the center of her family's table at every meal. We see as the bowl goes to simpler and simpler food as the war arrives and food becomes scarce. Several members of the family die due to the bombing. The surviving family discovers the bowl in the rubble of their home when they return to Nagasaki several years after the bombing. They then use the bowl each August 9th to remember their loss.

This would be a good picture book for older elementary age children to help them understand the impact of war and weapons. The messages might be too much for younger children to grasp.

This is a beautifully illustrated true story of a family living in Nagasaki during the bombings in the Second World War. The story centres around a green bowl that has been passed down through the family for years and somehow survives the attacks.

I will be buying this book when it comes out and cannot recommend it highly enough.

The central image of this book is certainly compelling, at least for an adult reader. The idea of this bowl as a symbol of family and our connection to our past. It's a touchstone for the family, something they can return to and remember those they've lost and their shared history. It's a thing that nourishes them both physically and emotionally. While that may not immediately impact a child reader, it's also important to present children with difficult ideas.

This book for the young reader brilliantly manages to convey nuclear war without scaring, over-dramatising or putting other difficulties in the way. Based on the true life story of a Nagasaki girl whose family's meals were cut back in size time after time with the effects of WW2, it shows the family coming back to the irradiated ruins of their home after a space of two years to find their table's centrepiece bowl intact. After that they gave themselves a particular ceremony of remembrance, using again the bowl as main object of focus. The artwork really works here – you don't need to know people standing in front of open windows, net curtains billowing, are dying while we see their souls leave the room, you just get a sense, a mood, of what's going on. Similarly with the actual dropping and ignition of the bomb – it is either a nuclear flash of light being born, or of course a matchstick glow of life leaving the world, but the level of abstraction really is in tune with the target audience. There is a book about the current bowl owner's life by the same author for older children, but this simplified variant is no less effective, and really does serve the intended lesson of hope well.

A lovely family story. I like that it comes from a Japanese view of the Second World War. A side I’ve never heard of before. Can definitely use this in the classroom.

I am a big believer in exposing children to multicultural literature. This book will be added to the library collection as an exploration of grandmothers and grandchildren and cultural traditions. With the major theme of history of items, my students and I can open a dialogue about what special things our families save that belonged to our ancestors. Why do we save these special things? What are the rules in your house about the special items? This book is an essential read for expanding your knowledge of other cultures and another way these stories can be shared with children.

I liked how thoughtfully the author and the illustrator presented a historical event in this children's picture book.

This may be a picture book, but it is definitely not a book for younger readers. This is more for your middle elementary and older children who are ready to hear the sobering tales from WWII. It' is the tale of the bombing of Nagasaki and the horrific effects from that atomic bomb. Sachiko was only six years old when the bomb was dropped. It is miraculous that she survived, as most of those around her did not, whether being instantly killed or succumbing to residual disease some years later. It's a message about the horrors of nuclear weapons and the lesson that they should never be used again. But it also is a story that inspires hope, as it tells of the family heirloom that survived, the rituals that the family had before the bombing and the new ones of remembrance that they created after the bombing. And it speaks to having gratitude and humility.

This is a true story. At the end of the story is the story behind the story, along with pictures of the real Sachiko and the real bowl. The author gives insight as to why she felt compelled to tell this story and also provides resources for further reading. It would be useful for telling part of the history of that time and serves as a discussion launching point.

Also of note are the beautiful illustrations that are soft, yet still demonstrate some of the harsh reality of the history of the war. I felt they were quite powerful.

I have long been fascinated by WWII and the many stories surrounding it. This is one that will stay with me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing me with a review copy via NetGalley. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

This book touched me in a place I didn't know I had. It was so heartbreaking and I had to stop reading a few times. I wouldn't buy this book just because I couldn't take the emotions that came with it. It was so well done. I thought the cover was quite lovely and the care that was shown to the details was flawless.

Caren Stelson’s picture book, A Bowl Full of Peace, is one of the only picture books that has ever made me weep. I read this story aloud to my children not knowing what we were in for. The language has a lyricism that hypnotizes you and it is clear from the beginning that the author is a poet who means to draw you into her story through a rhythmic, mourning music. The voice is soft and understated, reinforced with a sort of monk-like chanting: Itadakimasu, which in Japanese means, “I humbly receive.”

The story of the Nagasaki bombing told from the perspective of a Japanese survivor is astounding, deeply moving, and full of gravitas. One cannot read this picture book without being changed. “What happened to me must never happen to you.” So Sachiko says on the last page of the book. Her words will stay in my mind forever.

Thank you to NetGalley and Lerner Publishing Group for providing an ARC of this book.

This is a non-fiction picture book about Sachiko Yasui, during the bombing in Nagasaki, Japan.

This tale is so beautifully told, and it's not written like some non-fiction editorial. It's written as a story, reflecting on the tough times during the Nagasaki bombings. There's quite a bit of story in this, so I would recommend an older age group of children read this. It's not a picture book you'd be reading to preschoolers. I'd say grade five through eight would be a better group, because it does deal with war and death and dying.

I think the book is just marvelous. It tells a really tough tale but in a child friendly way that educates. Especially since this is a truly horrifying story if you go research it. It's worth the read if you want to teach a little history. Touching, sad tales like these need to be told so we don't forget the past and the humanity that can come out of tragedy.

The illustrations are gorgeous and give this weird sense of calming and peace, yet the tale is haunting. It reminds me of crayon or rough water colours. It stood out to me and pulled me to the cover, and then hooked me in the book.

Four out of five stars.

This book addresses the tragic experiences of Sachiko Yasui, a Nagasaki survivor who lost most of her family to the atomic blast and following radiation complications. Although the story is presented in a sensitive way, it may be too horrifying for some of the young readers in its target audience to handle, and even though I appreciate the book's messages about seeking peace and trying to move on with life while still honoring those we have lost, I do not think that this book is effective for a picture book audience.

The historical note in the back provides WWII context for the event, but the story itself is vague at times, and the second half of the book turns into a catalog of how and when her family members died. Even though I value this true story and highly recommend the older-audience biography of Sachiko by the same author, this book's deeply disturbing subject matter, minimal context and explanation for events, and pacing problems in the latter half make it a better choice for middle grade and adult readers, not young children.

A sad true story, and look at the terror that Hiroshima went through during the Second World War.
Beautifully illustrated, and written with so much emotion. Devastating but important.
A warning for certain readers, that there is a huge amount of loss of lives throughout Sachiko's tale, not just of the people of Hiroshima but of her close family members. Very difficult to read about, even through a children's story.
A fantastic author's note at the end describing Sachiko's story with photos.
Recommended.

This is an awesome book about a horrific topic. A Bowl Full of Rice: A True Story explains the unimaginable consequences of war. While the topic of the bombing of Japan during World War II, the story about the passing of grandmother's bowl through generations is a very age-appropriate way to educate present generations of important historical events. By focusing the story around the use of grandmother's bowl, younger students are able to understand what happens to civilians during war without being too graphic. As an elementary school librarian, I would definitely read this text to all of my K-5 students as a way to build background knowledge on this historical event while also building empathy and compassion for victims of war.

What a powerful book! This is the heartbreaking true story of an atomic bomb survivor from Nagasaki. Sachiko, her parents, and sister fled Nagasaki after the bombing only to return 2 years later and find her grandmother's special leaf-shaped bowl, completely intact, buried in the rubble of their home. She holds on to the bowl as the years pass as a symbol of hope for world peace. A moving account of a very important moment in history.

Caren Stelson makes a very dark time in history easier for children to understand how brutal the atomic bomb of Nagasaki was. It won't give them nightmares but it will teach them about the past in a very respectful way.

A Bowl Full of Peace b,y Caren Stelson, is a poignant and beautiful story about a real family in Nagasaki at the time of the atomic bomb in 1945. The family remains their sense of gratitude as the war starts, and even after the bomb tears them apart. This is an important story, though not an easy one as by the end of the book all of Sachiko's family has passed away from the bomb's radiation.
The illustrations are lovely and the simple writing keeps the story suitable for young readers, but give consideration to your child's readiness before reading.
Lerner Publishing Group
Carolrhoda Books ®

Beautiful, tragic, and resonates with today's times. The family heirloom ties everything together and will pull in readers since they likely have something at home that's been passed down from generation to generation.