Children's Book Illustrator Captures Painful Past

By George McConnell

For many Japanese Americans, the years of World War II, from 1942 to 1945, hold unpleasant memories.

Fueled by anti-Japanese sentiment following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Executive Order 9066 was signed by President Franklin Roosevelt in February 1942, giving 120,000 Americans of Japanese heritage just 10 days to dispose of their property and pack what belongings they could carry before being taken to 10 hastily-constructed internment camps - officially called "relocation centers" - located in desolate areas in seven western states.

The camps were overcrowded and living conditions were bad. The tar-paper-covered huts did not have plumbing or cooking facilities, and a daily food ration was 48 cents per person, according to an official government report.

In 1944, the order was rescinded and the last internment camp closed at the end of 1945. It was not until 1988, however, before Congress finally authorized reparations to the 60,000 remaining survivors.

Artist Felicia Hoshino says she tries to capture some of the pain of that experience in the illustrations of a new children's book titled "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow." Author Amy Lee-Tai wrote the text for the book.

The book tells the story of a young girl interned with her parents and how she adjusts to her unpleasant circumstances through the art classes offered at the camp. She makes a new friend and watches the sunflowers she planted bloom.

"I had a personal connection with the story because the Japanese American internment is part of my own family's history," Hoshino said.

Her father and grandparents were interned at camps in Arizona and Utah, and she's learned first-hand of their experiences and through an album of snapshots they keep that details life at the camps. With little to do for many of the internees, art schools were established. The classes helped many internees endure the harsh environment, loneliness, and anger over the injustice of their situation, Hoshino said.

The author's mother and grandparents were also interned, and her grandfather was instrumental in getting the schools started. Lee-Tai said the book was inspired by their experiences.

"My mother and grandmother planted sunflower seeds at the camp and they grew to the top of the barrack's wall. Besides serving as a metaphor for hope, the sunflowers also represent the internees who managed to survive with dignity and grace the harsh circumstances of the internment," she said.

This is the fourth book Hoshino has illustrated, and her first put out by San Francisco's Children's Book Press, which was founded in 1975 and specializes in bilingual and multi-cultural children's books. "A Place Where Sunflowers Grow" is published in both English and Japanese.

Hoshino is a San Francisco native and grew up in the Sunset District. Following high school, she studied art at City College and later matriculated to the California College of the Arts, graduating with a degree in graphic design.

After working in the industry for a time doing logos, brochures and corporate layouts, however, she discovered that the work and the industry were not to her liking.

"I found it was just too stressful and I wasn't comfortable. I wanted to go in my own direction," she said.

After leaving her job, she took classes in illustrating for children's books, and it was there where she learned it might be possible to earn a living as an illustrator. She began by sending letters to publishers she wanted to work for, but a year went by before she received an invitation to interview and present her portfolio. It wasn't until a year later, however, that she was offered a job illustrating for a book titled "Surprise Me," which was published in 2005.

Subsequently, Hoshino has illustrated two more children's books, "Finding The Golden Rule" and "Little Sap & Monsieur Rodin," both published this year.

The publisher acts as matchmaker in the process, said Hoshino. Her contact with the author of the manuscript is minimal.

"Maybe we might exchange a few e-mails during the process, but that's about it," she said.

After working through initial sketches, she scans the finalized sketches into a computer, where color is added. Later, she redraws the images on large sheets using pen and ink, and then adds color using watercolor and acrylic paints to produce the final plates that will be submitted to the publisher.

Recently, her publisher submitted some of her illustrations to the Society of Illustrators and they were selected to be included in an annual exhibition celebrating the art of children's book illustration, which runs in New York City from Oct. 26 to Nov. 22.

For more information about Hoshino, call Children's Book Press at (415) 821-3080 or visit visit the Web site at www.childrensbookpress.org.