Please join us for a reading, Q&A, signing, and haiku writing session with author Holly Thompson as she presents her newly released book, “Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker”.
When: Sunday, April 13th @ 4:30 pm
Space is limited, please RSVP at hello@theyellowhouseri.com to reserve your spot.
Pre-order your copy of Listening to Trees by emailing hello@theyellowhouseri.com
Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker (October 2024) is 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.
Praise
"A moving story of family, resilience, and sustainability."—Booklist
A 2025 NCTE Orbis Pictus Award Recommended Book
About the Author:
Holly Thompson (www.hatbooks.com), longtime resident of Japan, is the author of three verse novels for young people: Falling into the Dragon's Mouth; The Language Inside; and Orchards--winner of the Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature. She is also author of the picture book biography Listening to Trees: George Nakashima, Woodworker; The Wakame Gatherers about a girl gathering seaweed with two grandmothers; and the poetry picture books Twilight Chant and One Wave at a Time. She edited Tomo: Friendship Through Fiction—An Anthology of Japan Teen Stories featuring ten stories in translation. Holly is a graduate of the NYU Creative Writing Program and is a Regional Advisor Emeritus of SCBWI Japan. Now based in Massachusetts, she writes and translates poetry, fiction and nonfiction for children, teens and adults; teaches writing at Yokohama City University, Boston's GrubStreet, and UC Berkeley Extension; and visits schools in Japan, the U.S. and places in between.