Hiromi's Hands

Hiromi’s Hands. Lynne Barasch. Illus. by Lynne Barasch. New York: Lee & Low Books Inc., 2007. 35 pages. $17.95 (Hardcover). ISBN 978-1-58430-275-9. Grades 1-4.

My Thoughts...

Can I just say biased? I loved this book and I loved that I knew a lot about the sushi already. I knew the Japanese terms for many of the items shared in the story, but I was excited to see even more. Unfortunately we (Takosushi) does not have a lot of the items mentioned. I am definitely going to take this book to work to share with my coworkers because I found the history of sushi fascinating. I had no idea how it evolved from preserved fish to slightly raw to totally raw! I think my excitement about this book is biased, like I mentioned because I do work at a sushi restaurant. That being said, we have a surprising about of families come in with kids who love sushi! I think they would adore this book. I can remember one particular customer (a little girl) who was actually taking Japanese already and knew how to work chopsticks. I think she would absolutely love this book. We also have a female sushi chef at our restaurant. Her name is Alex, and actually my coworker’s girlfriend used to roll sushi as well. These two ladies may not be as refined as Hiromi, and they did not go to the fish market to get their fish, but they would still appreciate this book. I think kids too would like to see Alex behind the bar making sushi after reading this book.

Okay, let me talk about the book now… I think the illustrations were great. Each picture was realistic and appealing. I did wonder if all the Japanese characters in the fish market in Japan were accurate or real, and then wondered what they said. I think the pictures of the sushi are great too. They are not photographs so each item is not necessarily perfect, but still the images would allow a child to recognize what was on their plate. The sushi does actually look like that. The colors are dead on; the shapes are right, etc. I was so in to the story that it took me a long time to notice how it read. The story was very wordy, as if a child was telling the story detail for detail. I don’t think it took away from it at all, however, and think the young audience will retain more of the story and be interested in it because of that. I also found the glossary and pronunciation guide and author’s note both interesting and very helpful. I think they definitely add to what would otherwise be just a cute story.