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Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker
A poetic and moving picture book biography celebrating the life and work of the visionary Japanese American woodworker George Nakashima.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, George Nakashima began a love story with trees that grew throughout his remarkable life as architect, designer and woodworker. During World War II, George, with his wife Marion and their baby daughter, endured incarceration in Minidoka prison camp, where he drew comfort from the discipline of woodworking. Once free, George dedicated the rest of his life to crafting furniture from fallen or discarded trees, giving fresh purpose and dignity to each tree, and promoting a more peaceful world.
Author Holly Thompson narrates Nakashima’s life using haibun, a combination of haiku and prose, which twines smoothly through Toshiki Nakamura’s earthy illustrations. A foreword by Nakashima’s daughter Mira and robust back matter will deepen young readers' understanding of woodworking and poetry and offer added insights to the work of a master artisan.
Growing up in the Pacific Northwest, George Nakashima began a love story with trees that grew throughout his remarkable life as architect, designer and woodworker. During World War II, George, with his wife Marion and their baby daughter, endured incarceration in Minidoka prison camp, where he drew comfort from the discipline of woodworking. Once free, George dedicated the rest of his life to crafting furniture from fallen or discarded trees, giving fresh purpose and dignity to each tree, and promoting a more peaceful world.
Author Holly Thompson narrates Nakashima’s life using haibun, a combination of haiku and prose, which twines smoothly through Toshiki Nakamura’s earthy illustrations. A foreword by Nakashima’s daughter Mira and robust back matter will deepen young readers' understanding of woodworking and poetry and offer added insights to the work of a master artisan.
48 pages, Hardcover
Expected publication October 22, 2024
About the author
Holly Thompson
20 books151 followersHolly Thompson (www.hatbooks.com) is a longtime resident of Japan originally from Massachusetts. A graduate of the NYU Creative Writing Program, she writes poetry, fiction and nonfiction for children through adults. She is author of the verse novels Falling into the Dragon's Mouth, The Language Inside, and Orchards; the picture books Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker; One Wave at a Time; Twilight Chant and The Wakame Gatherers, and the novel Ash. She compiled and edited Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction—An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories, a collection of 36 Japan-related short stories, including ten in translation. Holly teaches writing in Japan and the U.S. and visits schools worldwide.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 31, 2024
This is an elegantly simple blend of subtle illustrations, poetic lines to launch each double-spread, and lyrical informative text about a creative artisan of distinction. George Nakashima's life lovingly unfolds from early years in Pacific Northwoods experiences, revealing his deep appreciation of natural and cultural influences and appeals, to his growing skill and innovation in working with wood in original ways. His career choices included architecture, but he preferred furniture making, which allowed him to work with the unique materials and principles while controlling every aspect of the creation directly. His reputiaotn rapidly grew and he received global acclaim.
The mid-section of his life story includes his family's imprisonment in Japanese internment camps during WWII, his use of skills to make life there more livable using random wood scraps, and his decision to accept a move to Pennsylvania- to farm!
The decisions he made after arriving, his uses of the surrounding natural materials, including tree-falls and ways in which those materials inspired him to create works of art that functioned not only as furniture but as foundations for peaceful interactions.
Back matter includes an author note, photo and text examples of Nakashima working, segments about trees and their usable elements, photos of exemplary furniture he mad, and more.
I found the poetry on each gently-evocative spread set the tone for the developments explored on those pages. The entire production and design made me believe that this book would please its subject, as it seems to have pleased Nakashima's daughter, who offers an introductory note.
Highly recommend.
The mid-section of his life story includes his family's imprisonment in Japanese internment camps during WWII, his use of skills to make life there more livable using random wood scraps, and his decision to accept a move to Pennsylvania- to farm!
The decisions he made after arriving, his uses of the surrounding natural materials, including tree-falls and ways in which those materials inspired him to create works of art that functioned not only as furniture but as foundations for peaceful interactions.
Back matter includes an author note, photo and text examples of Nakashima working, segments about trees and their usable elements, photos of exemplary furniture he mad, and more.
I found the poetry on each gently-evocative spread set the tone for the developments explored on those pages. The entire production and design made me believe that this book would please its subject, as it seems to have pleased Nakashima's daughter, who offers an introductory note.
Highly recommend.
Displaying 1 of 1 review