Deborah Stevenson (The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books, January 2009 (Vol. 62, No. 5))
This adaptation of Lafcadio Hearn’s “A Living God” features “a wise old rice farmer who lived near the sea.” Known as Ojiisan, “grandfather,” he’s respected by his fellow villagers, who come to seek his counsel at his mountaintop cottage. When it’s time to celebrate the autumn harvest down in the village, Ojiisan and his grandson, Tada, stay behind. A mild earthquake precedes a massive ebb in the tide, and Ojiisan, recalling his own grandfather’s wisdom, realizes that such events herald a tsunami, and that he and Tada must find a way to warn the people below. The story could be a little more tightly told (Ojiisan’s grandfather-imparted advice turns up rather abruptly), but it has both immediacy and folkloric resonance. There’s considerable drama in the mountaintop warning—Ojiisan and his grandson set fire to the ricefields that provide the old man with his livelihood in order to draw the villagers to the mountain to help douse the fire—and it’s high action from that moment until the satisfying ending. Collage dominates Young’s illustrations, with occasional touches of paint enhancing the already varied textures ranging from sharp-edged photographs to soft, fibrous rag. The intensity of the patterning moves the art into near-abstraction at times, held together by strongly rhythmic composition, that makes the art likely to appeal most to visually sophisticated viewers. This could work as an interesting pairing with accounts of the 2004 tsunami such as Kroll’s Selvakumar Knew Better (BCCB 9/06) or other retellings of the tale such as Hodges’ The Wave, illustrated by Blair Lent (BCCB 9/64), or just as an eventful tale of disaster and heroism in its own right. The copyright page includes a source note Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2006, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2009, Philomel, 32p.; Reviewed from galleys, $16.99. Ages 5-9 yrs.

CCBC (Cooperative Children's Book Center Choices 2010)
Ojiisan is watching from his home on the mountain as residents of his village celebrate the rice harvest when he feels a rumbling beneath his feet: it’s an earthquake. Ojiisan watches 400 villagers far below rush toward the unusual sight of the sea rushing away from the land. They are unaware of what it means: tsunami! Frantic to warn them of the danger, Ojiisan sets his crops on fire, knowing that the villagers will rush up the mountain to help extinguish the blaze. And they do. Their village is devoured by the waves, but 400 lives are saved. Kimiko Kajikawa’s story is based on a real man named Hamaguchi Goryou who saved his village when a tsunami hit Japan in 1896. In a spare, dramatic account, the tension builds slowly and then explodes like the fury of the wave. Ed Young’s remarkable collage art is at once abstract—swaths of red-orange and pink for the flames, chaotic tears of white for the violent sea—and detailed, with facial expressions reflecting the confusion and terror, and authentic period clothing. CCBC Category: Historical People, Places, and Events. 2009, Philomel, 32 pages, $16.99. Ages 6-9.

Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
The destructive power of a tsunami was in the news not long ago. But Kajikawa has gone back to a legendary story by Lafcadio Hearn for this tale of the tsunami’s terror, and of the courage and sacrifice of a wise old rice farmer. On the day of the celebration of the autumn rice festival down in the village, Ojiisan and his grandson Tada stay home atop the mountain, because Ojiisan feels that something is not right. There is an earthquake, but not severe enough to concern them. But then Ojiisan sees the sea running away from the land, and remembers what his father told him about tsunamis. With Tada’s help he sets fire to his rice crop to draw the people away from the shore. The villagers are puzzled at his sacrifice, until they hear and see the tsunami. The village is swept away, but the people are saved. Years later, “villagers still give thanks to the good farmer who burned his rice fields to save the people.” The terrifying wave on the jacket with bits of broken huts scattered on the surface of the dark water predicts the emotional turmoil of the story within. The visual tale occupies most of each double-page spread with the few lines of text in white on framed black running along the bottom. Young uses gouache, pastel, and torn paper collage to create gripping melodramatic scenes. Some include tiny figures, while others sweep across the double pages in wide areas of color. The title in torn gray and white paper stands out from the double page of black. The orange end papers give an emotional lift to the darkness within. 2009, Philomel Books/Penguin Young Readers Group, $16.99. Ages 5 to 9.