Dear Miss Breed: Homework Help

Letter to Clara Breed from Elizabeth and Anna Kikuchi Gift of Elizabeth Y. Yamada (93.75.31CC)

Clara Breed was the first children’s librarian at the San Diego Public Library and a friend to dozens of Japanese American students when World War II began in December 1941. Miss Breed did everything she could to help her young friends: writing letters, sending books and care packages, and even speaking out publicly against what was happening.

You can find out more about Clara Breed and her young friends.

Librarians, like Miss Breed, help students learn about the world around them…and they also help with homework too. So in honor of Miss Breed and librarians everywhere, here are resources that will help you with your homework if you need to know more about Japanese American culture and history.

Culture   History   Fiction  Videos   CDROM   Internet

Many of these books can be found at your local school or public library. If your parents are interested in purchasing them, some of them are available at the Japanese American National Museum Store at www.janmstore.com.

 

Gift of Jack and Peggy Iwata (93.102.182)

Culture

• Aihara, Chris, and Qris Yamashita. Nikkei Donburi : A Japanese American Cultural Survival Guide. Los Angeles, CA: Polychrome, 1999.
  Suggested Grades: 3-8.
  Filled with a mix of stories, arts and crafts projects, traditional recipes, activities, explanations and information structured around the four seasons.
   
• Araki, Nancy K., and Jane M. Horii. Matsuri: Festival : Japanese American Celebrations and Activities. Union City, CA: Heian International, 1978.
  Suggested Grades: 4-8.
  A fun and educational look at the origins of Japanese traditions and their meaning to Japanese Americans.
   
• Emery, Vivian. I am Japanese American. New York, NY: PowerKids Press, 1997. Suggested Grades: 1-3
  A Japanese American girl talks about aspects of her heritage, including food, clothing, and religion.
   
• Westridge Young Writers Workshop. Kids Explore America 's Japanese American Heritage. Santa Fe, NM: John Muir Publications, 1996. Suggested Grades: 3-8.
  Presents writings by students in grades 3-7 on topics of Japanese American culture, including sports, cooking, history, and art.

 

Gift of Kimie Nagai (92.125.12)

History

• Alonso, Karen. Korematsu v. United States : Japanese-American Internment Camps. Springfield, NJ: Enslow Publishers, 1998.
  Suggested Grades: 7-10.
  Profiles the case of Fred Korematsu who sought compensation from the American government for his time spent in a Japanese American concentration camp during World War II.
   
• Brimner, Larry Dane. Voices From the Camps: Internment of Japanese Americans during World War II. New York, NY: Franklin Watts, 1994.
  Suggested Grades 9-12.
  In this moving book, Japanese Americans tell in their own words of their experiences during their forced removal to concentration camps.
   
• Cooper, Michael L. Fighting for Honor: Japanese Americans and World War II. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 2000.
  Suggested Grades: 7-12.
  Examines the history of Japanese Americans, focusing on their treatment during World War II, including the mass incarceration to the camps and the distinguished service of Japanese Americans in the American military.
   
• Houston, Jeanne Wakatsuki, and James D. Houston. Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience during and after the World War II Internment. New York, NY: Bantam Books, 1973.
  Suggested Grades: 7-12.
  Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston was seven years old in 1942 when her family was sent to live in Manzanar concentration camp. This is a true story of one spirited Japanese American family’s attempt to survive their incarceration.
   
• Kitano, Harry H. L. The Japanese Americans. New York, NY: Chelsea House, 1996.
  Suggested Grades: 8-12.
  This volume examines the history and culture of Japanese Americans and follows the achievements of its people up to the present.
   
• McGowen, Tom F. Go for Broke: Japanese Americans in World War II. New York, NY: Franklin Watts, 1995.
  Suggested Grades: 5-9.
  Focuses on the Nisei, second generation Japanese Americans, and their contributions during the war in Europe and the Pacific.
   
• Oppenheim, Joanne. Dear Miss Breed: True Stories of the Japanese American Incarceration during World War II and a Librarian Who Made a Difference. New York, NY: Scholastic, 2006.
  Suggested Grades: 7-12.
  Chronicles the incredible correspondences between California librarian Clara Breed and young Japanese American students incarcerated in Poston , Arizona.
   
• Stanley, Jerry. I am an American: A True Story of Japanese Internment. New York, NY: Crown Publishers, 1994.
  Suggested Grades: 4-10
  Based on interviews and personal recollections, this book weaves Shi Nomura's experiences into a larger story of Japanese American wartime incarceration.
   
• Takaki, Ronald. Democracy and Race: Asian Americas and World War II. New York, NY: 1995.
  Suggested Grades: 8-12.
  World War II was a momentous event in the lives of Asian Americans. For Japanese Americans, World War II brought discrimination, loss of property, and incarceration in concentration camps (Chapter 7). Japanese American men and women fought courageously on all battlefronts in the armed services, even while their families remained imprisoned in concentration camps.
   
• Through Innocent Eyes: Writing and Art from the Japanese American Internment. Los Angeles, CA: Keiro Services Press and the Generations Fund, 1990.
  Suggested Grades: 8-12.
  In Poston concentration camp, English teacher Mr. Franchi met inmate Paul Takeda. Together they planned for incarcerated students to write to pen pals in the outside world so that they could provide those on the outside with knowledge and understanding of the student inmates. The result was two albums titled “Out of the Desert” containing the writing and art of the Poston school children.
   
• Tunnell, Michael O., and George W. Chilcoat. The Children of Topaz: The Story of a Japanese-American Internment Camp: Based on a Classroom Diary. New York, NY: Holiday House, 1996.
  Suggested Grades: 4-8.
  A diary of a 3rd grade class of Japanese American children being held with their families in Topaz concentration camp during World War II.
   
• Uchida, Yoshiko. Desert Exile: The Uprooting of a Japanese American Family. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press, 1982.
  Suggested Grades: 7-12.
  Writer Yoshiko Uchida provides an intimate glimpse of her family life at Topaz Relocation Center in Utah and of their return back to Oakland at the war’s end.
   
• Welch, Catherine A. Children of the Relocation Camps. Minneapolis, MN: Carolrhoda Books, 2000.
  Suggested Grades: 4-6.
  Explores experiences of Japanese American children in concentration camps during World War II at school, meals, sports, and other aspects of camp life.

 

 

Gift of George T. Ishizuka (98.128.1)

Fiction

• Bunting, Eve. So Far from the Sea. New York, NY: Clarion Books, 1998.
  Suggested Grades: 2-5.
  When seven-year-old Laura and her family visit Grandfather's gravesite at Manzanar concentration camp, a Japanese American granddaughter learns more about what happened during WWII and leaves behind a special symbol.
   
• Komatsu, Kimberly, and Kaleigh Komatsu. In America’s Shadow. Los Angeles, CA: Thomas George Books, 2002.
  Suggested Grades: 4-9.
  Story for young readers about the incarceration of Japanese Americans through the eyes of a young Japanese American girl, Aiko, and her relationship with her grandfather.
   
• Mochizuki, Ken. Baseball Saved Us. New York, NY: Lee & Low Books, 1993.
  Suggested Grades: 2-5.
  A Japanese American boy learns to play baseball in a concentration camp during World War II and his ability to play helps him after the war.
   
• Say, Allen. Home of the Brave. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 2002.
  Suggested Grades: 2-4.
  Following a kayaking accident, a man experiences the feelings of children incarcerated during World War II.
   
• Shigekawa, Marlene. Blue Jay in the Desert. Chicago, IL: Polychrome Publishing, 1993.
  Suggested Grades: 2-5.
  While living in a Japanese American concentration camp during World War II, a young boy receives a message of hope from his grandfather.
   
• Uchida, Yoshiko. The Bracelet. New York, NY: Philomel Books, 1993.
  Suggested Grades: 3-5.
  Emi, a Japanese American in the second grade, is sent to a concentration camp during World War II with her family, but the loss of the bracelet her best friend has given her proves that she does not need a physical reminder of that friendship.
   
• The Invisible Thread. New York, NY: Julian Messner, 1991.
  Suggested Grades: 5-10.
  Yoshiko Uchida describes growing up in Berkeley , California as a Nisei, and her family's experience in a Utah concentration camp during WWII.
   
• Journey Home. New York, NY: Atheneum, 1978.
  Suggested Grades: 4-8.
  Twelve-year-old Yuki and her parents are released from Topaz Concentration Camp and return to Berkeley. The climate of fear and distrust create many problems for the returnees.
   
• Journey to Topaz: A Story of the Japanese-American Evacuation. Berkeley, CA: Donald Creative Arts Book, 1985.
  Suggested Grades: 4-12.
  After the Pearl Harbor attack, an eleven-year-old Japanese American girl and her family are forced to go to assembly centers of Tanforan and then to a bleak desert concentration camp called Topaz.

 

 

Gift of the Morimoto Family (92.128.1)

Videos

• Something Strong Within. Directed by Robert A. Nakamura. 40 min. Japanese American Museum , 1994.
  Suggested Grades: 5-12.
  Created from never-before-seen home movies of the forced removal and incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II.
   
  
• Once Upon a Camp Multilingual Classroom Series
  Includes a Teacher’s Guide for each video:

1. The Bracelet. Directed by John Esaki. Story by Yoshiko Uchida. 25 min. UCLA Asian American Studies Center , and Japanese American National Museum, 2001.
   Suggested Grades: K-5.
   Second grader Emi is forced into an American concentration camp and in the process loses a treasured gift from her best friend Laurie. Rare home movies and historic photographs along with Joanna Yardley's original illustrations tell this heartwarming story of growth and understanding. Read by teacher Patty Nagano who conducts a discussion and activities with a second grade class after the story.
2.   Dear Miss Breed. Directed by Veronica Ko. Hosted by Marcus Toji. 13 min. UCLA Asian American Studies Center and Japanese American National Museum, 2001.
   Suggested Grades: 6-8.
   A real life story of how librarian Clara Breed became a hero to Japanese American youth in Poston, one of America's concentration camps in Arizona. Draws on rare home videos and excerpts from some of her 250 letters.
3.   Interactions. Directed by Justin Lin. 33 min. UCLA Asian American Studies Center and Japanese American National Museum, 2001.
   Suggested Grades: 9-12.
   Chronicles four California students who were given four days to find out what life was like for teenagers in camp during World War II. Equipped with a phone and a computer, they talk to former camp inmates, explore the ruins of an actual camp and ask themselves, "What would I have done?" and "Could this happen to me?"

 

 

Gift of Audrey Kaneko Muromoto (96.210.2)

CDROM

• Executive Order 9066: The Incarceration of Japanese Americans during World War II. Developed by UCLA Film & Television Archive in Association with Japanese American National Museum and Mitsui & Co. ( USA ), 1998.
  Suggested Grades: 8-12. [D805. U6E94]
  Provides fundamental information regarding concentration camps such as chronology, topics, profiles, and places with many images.

 

 

Internet Sites

• Hanami, Clement. Jasonproject: Japanese American Summaries on the Net. (18 January 2002 ). [www.jasonproject.ws]
  Suggested Grades: 9-12.
  This site, developed with the participation of high school students, aims to present objective accounts of Americans of Japanese ancestry who were incarcerated. Particularly interesting is the usage of comic strips produced in the camps to shed light on the experience.
   
• Hirasaki National Resource Center, Japanese American National Museum. 2001. [www.janm.org/nrc]
  The Hirasaki National Resource Center web page provides rich information regarding Japanese American experiences during World War II, including the following links:  
  • America ’s Concentration Camps: Mass Incarceration Fact Sheet.
  • America ’s Concentration Camps: Question and Answer Fact Sheet.
  • Collection Guide to the Japanese American National Museum
  • Stanley Hayami Diary, Miss Breed Letters, George Hoshida Sketchbooks, Jack Iwata Photographs, Walter Wataru Muramoto Photographs
  • Regenerations – Suggested Grades: 9-12
  • Japanese American Incarceration Facts.
  • Japanese American Incarceration: A Chronology.
  • Hirasaki National Resource Center Bookmarks: Archives/Museums, Asian American links, Concentration Camp links.
  • Hirasaki National Resource Center Q and A.