Reviews: April 2008 Archives

Holly Thompson Interview in SWET

By
Renee Ting
on April 15, 2008 11:39 AM | | Comments (0)
swet.gifThe Society of Writers, Editors & Traslators (SWET) is a an organization based in Japan. In thier April 2008 newsletter, there is a lengthy interview of Holly Thompson, author of The Wakame Gatherers. She talks about the impetus for the story, the publishing process, and the themes of the book.

It's a thoughtful and in-depth discussion of these issues, but of course, I was just a little thrilled to see my own name mentioned:

Q. Was it difficult to pitch a book with wakame in the title? Did you have to coach anyone on the pronunciation?
A. Actually, publisher Renee Ting of Shen's Books was adamant about keeping wakame in the title. One of her goals is to bring other cultures to children in the United States, and this includes introducing new words. Different publishers have different approaches, but many picture books published in North America nowadays include non-English words in the text. The glossary in the back of The Wakame Gatherers has a pronunciation guide. Of course many people still mispronounce the word wakame, but it doesn't seem to be a marketing deterrent.
Read the entire interview here.
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"Holly Thompson’s The Wakame Gatherers is a marvel..."

-Allen Say

Holly Thompson has lived for many years in Kamakura, Japan, where she has often gathered wakame with her children and observed the harvesting of cultivated wakame. Raised in New England, she earned her M.A. in fiction writing from New York University and now teaches creative writing at Yokohama City University. She writes for both children and adults and is the Regional Advisor of the Tokyo chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators. Her novel Ash is also set in Japan.

Kazumi Wilds was born in Tokyo studied art at the Women’s College of Art in Tokyo and at the University of Minnesota. She has illustrated three other children’s books and teaches art when she is not painting. Kazumi now lives in the mountains of western Japan, near the Sea of Japan, with her children, dog, and cats. She remembers her many trips to Kamakura fondly.

Shen’s Books is a publisher of multicultural children’s literature that emphasizes cultural diversity and tolerance, with a focus on introducing children to the cultures of Asia.

Through books, we can share a world a stories, building greater understanding and tolerance within our increasingly diverse communities as well as throughout our continuously shrinking globe.