When Yukie Kimura was six years old in 1943, her family moved to the island of Bentenjima off the coast of Japan, where her father worked as lighthouse keeper. The opening pages of Yukie’s story capture the easy innocence of the next few years, playing with her brother and sister on the island. Life changed when the war came closer to their home; they cowered in a bomb shelter while the American bombs explode nearby. “The war ended soon after that. But not everyone came back to school.” Empty seats in the classroom are mute reminders of students who didn’t survive. Later Yukie spots ice floes coming into shore. Despite their parents’ obvious concern, the siblings jump from one to the next with joyful abandon. A spare text captures Yukie’s memories of this time, which are striking for conveying both her pleasure in the freedom of childhood play and the impact of war. Oil paint illustrations in solemn hues give a strong sense of place while skillfully expressing emotion. Lengthy endnotes expand on details about Yukie’s early life and the connections that led to the creation of this picture book based on her memories, 77 years after these events took place. (Ages 5-8)

A moving picture book autobiography about a family’s resilience and path to healing after the devastation of war.

It's 1945, the final year of World War II. Yukie Kimura is eight years old. She lives on a tiny island with a lighthouse in the north of Japan with her family, and she knows that the fighting that once felt so far away is getting closer.

Mornings spent helping her father tend to the lighthouse and adventuring with her brother are replaced by weeks spent inside, waiting. At some point, Yukie knows, they may be bombed.

Then, it happens. One Sunday, bombs are dropped. The war ends soon after that. Everyone tells Yukie there's nothing to be scared of anymore, but she's not so sure. So she watches and she waits—until a miraculous sight finally allows her to be a kid again.

This is the true story of Yukie Kimura told in her own words, co-created with her son, illustrator Kodo Kimura, and co-written with bestselling Newbery Honor author Steve Sheinkin. Yukie's Island is an honest, thoughtful, and stirring picture book about being a child living through wartime.