Mira and Baku, by Sara Truuvert, Illustrated by Michelle Theodore
Set during the second world war, a Japanese girl Mira with her imaginary friend Baku, sets on a journey to find her missing father, whom she yearns to meet on her birthday.
Mira is anxious, it’s a week until her birthday and her papa is not here yet. To cope up with the separation and apprehension about her father’s whereabouts, Mira talks with an imaginary friend, a Japanese folklore character ‘Baku’.

Mira travels with Baku through mountains and oceans, cedars and stores hopeful about finding her father. Readers can relate to Mira, as she continues her search for her father collecting pieces of evidence reminiscing over the moments and memories they shared together.

The story draws attention to the less known facts of Japanese internment camps during second world war and the separation of loved ones in those times. Readers observe how young children cope with separation and the different ways in which they find comfort. With charming illustrations, the book Mira and Baku, will inform its readers with historical account at the same time enrich young minds with imagination and hope.

Thank you to Annick Press for this eARC!

What a poignant and beautifully-illustrated look at the consequences of the internment of Canadians of Japanese descent during WWII. The author takes us on an imaginative journey cataloging the emotions of a young girl whose father has been forced to into a camp, and how she deals with his absence on her birthday. Lovely way to start a discussion about history with littles!

Mira is a young girl living in Canada and wishing that her father would be home for her birthday this year. He's never missed a birthday before and Mira is determined to find a way to bring her dad home in time. Mira enlists the assistance of Baku, an imaginary creature, to help locate her father. Mira gets a birds eye view of the town and surrounding area. At each place they visit, Mira picks up a stone as a keepsake and she also relives a memory from one of the stones in her collection. These all help keep her dad's memory close because it was a hobby they shared.

Mira's journey takes her back to the places that were meaningful to her family before they were forcibly relocated to an internment camp. Baku helps Mira cope with missing her father and the loss of so many dear memories. Her mother also offers encouragement during the difficult days of waiting.

Mira and Baku offers a perspective on history that is told in a sensitive way that children will understand. I liked the portrayal of her mother who gave Mira space to explore but also offered encouragement and support. This book offers a way for children to process disappointment and loss. Reading aloud with a parent or grandparent can open up conversations about handling sad and lonely events that can happen in life, or the pain of an absent parent.

I was aware of the Japanese internment in the US but had not realized that Canada also had camps. I feel it's important to honestly represent the past--even when it sheds an unfavorable light on our ancestors--and this book does so with honesty and an age appropriate telling. The author offers helpful historical notes at the end of the book.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced digital copy of Mira and Baku through NetGalley for the purpose of review. No other compensation was received and the opinions expressed are my own.

I was disappointed in this picture book about the wartime internment of Japanese Canadians. It focuses on a young girl, Mira, who is distressed because it appears that her father will be missing her birthday this year. She doesn’t know where he is. From the illustrations, an adult can infer that Mira and her mother are in a camp for Japanese-Canadian women and children. Young readers/listeners lack the background knowledge to make such an inference.

The plot of the book consists mainly of Mira and her imaginary friend, Baku flying over coastal mountains and forests, visiting familiar places in search of him. (Baku, by the way, isn’t even identified as her imaginary friend—until one reads the afterword. He looks like an anteater.) Ultimately, a letter does come from Papa with a special new stone to add to Mira’s collection, which also figures prominently in the book.

The narrative itself provides virtually no historical context about what happened to Japanese Canadians during World War II. Explanatory detail is completely absent until the reader gets to the author’s note at the end. I can’t imagine reading this book to children. I’m doubtful it would be well received. There’s an emotional flatness to the whole thing—essentially nothing much to hook the young reader.

The illustrations are serviceable, but nothing special.

I did not like this book, and I cannot recommend it.

Full review to be posted to The Miramichi Reader in September.

Teaser review has been posted on IG - link posted below.

This was a cute book. I like how the main character uses her imagination and how she shows her feelings in the story. There is a lot of emotion in the book especially when she is thinking her father forgets about her birthday. I also like that she has a friend next to her at all times and that she has her mom to lean on.

A beautiful story about a young girl's emotional journey while separated from her father due to internment policies during WWII. Mira is angry that her father will miss her birthday. With her imaginary friend, Baku, she goes on an emotional journey, seeking to connect with and find her father. Mira and her father's rock collection features throughout the story and in the end, although Mira's father cannot be there for her birthday, he sends a new rock in a letter as a sign of connection and love. The author's note and information at the back allows readers to learn more about WWII internment policies and the tragedies they imposed on families. The illustrations are beautiful and transport readers to another time while conveying universal emotional experiences. This is a powerful book that connects with children's emotions and imagination while exploring a challenging topic with a delicate touch.

Mira and Baku follows Mira, a Japanese Canadian child, and her imaginary friend, Baku, in the days leading up to her birthday -- set against the backdrop of racism against and forced removal of Japanese Canadians during WWII. Mira doesn't know that her father has been taken to a labor camp, and doesn't understand why he isn't home for her birthday. This is a powerful children's book with beautiful illustrations and language. My only niggle is that I wish Mira's mom and been more communicative with her about the reason for her father's absence...

Well, that made me cry. I got sucked in by the extremely beautiful illustrations, but this story is quite moving. Japanese Americans were not the only ones that experienced internment. It also happened to Japanese Canadians. Funny how I grew up in the US, had US history every year, studied WW2 and never learned about the internment until I did some research on my own.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

Mira and Baku is a story that focuses on Japanese-Canadians during WW2, that faced similar prejudices of what Japanese-Americans faced. Mira is soon to have a birthday, but her father is not home anymore and does not know if he will make it back home for her birthday. Mira appears to be unaware about where he went, and her mythical imaginary friend Baku helps her fly around her village and its surroundings to find him. Will Mira hear word of her father before her birthday?

This is a children's story that deals with themes of longing, grief, conflict, war, and also courage. It has beautiful illustrations and is very easy to read. I would recommend this book to upper elementary classrooms studying world history, and also American history, as it parallels to what was happening with internment/labor camps set up for Japanese-Americans. I would also recommend it to families who may have experienced loss or missing loved ones in any capacity.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me early access to this book.

This picture book has beautiful illustrations with lots of hidden details I loved examining. The story deals with heavy subject matter with lots of levity to make it a good starting point into the history of Japanese encampments for younger kids. Older readers may leave this story with some questions since the story is told from the child's point of view and she herself doesn't fully understand why her family is separated, and I think that this combined with Love In the Library would be a great duo for story time. Mira and Baku is the child's perspective, while Love In the Library would provide a little more context.

Mira and Baku is a beautiful story about a girl missing her father before her birthday, while he's being held at a Japanese internment camp. The illustrations are beautiful and the story is sure to capture everyone's heart as it did mine.

The illustrations for this book are very nice, but the story is disjointed and confusing. Why can Mira and Baku fly? What is Baku? Why won't her mother tell her where her father is? He sends a letter to Mira, so why can't she know what's going on? The sentences were mixed up, too. Sometimes it seemed like the text belonged to an illustration a couple of pages before, it also seemed like there were pages missing, or pages out of order, maybe? At the end of the book it had a parents' notes/discussion section. that talked about Japanese internment camps in Canada, but the story didn't seem related to that at all, and it didn't explain it if it was.

Richly illustrated and beautifully told with a touch of magical realism, this is a book that will tug on your heartstrings. Mira's longing for her dad is palpable and I could feel her grief, confusion and sadness. I also adored the character of Baku.

This book also highlights a lesser-known but no less important part of history. While I've heard of Japanese-American internment camps, I was not aware that men in Canada were ordered to leave first and separated from their families. I appreciate the author's note and would definitely recommend this short but impactful and enlightening read.

On the surface, if you knew nothing about the Japanese Internment, you might wonder why the main character, Mira is so desperate to see her father for her birthday. And you might not be aware of where she and her mother are living. And you might think it odd that her father can’t come to her, and that she is far from her home.

So, this would be a good book to share with a child and also give backstory. Let them know how the Japanese-Amreicans and Japanese-Canadians were taken from their homes on the west coast, and forced to live in internment camps during World War 2.

The author says we need to tell stories like these. Stories that are woven into bigger messages. That yes, this is partly about a girl missing her father, but the bigger picture, of course, was that he was interred elsewhere, away from his family, and of course he can’t get to her, and see her.

And as the author points out, we say we dont’ want it to happen again, so we must be aware that fearing any group is not the way to make them feel welcome.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. The book is coming out from Annick Press the 17th of October 2023.

This heartfelt story of a little girl wondering why her father won't be there for her birthday was a great read. The soft illustrations matched the tone of the story.