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Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes

by Eleanor Coerr, Ronald Himler (Illustrator)

4.06 of 5 stars 4.06 · rating details · 6,939 ratings · 622 reviews

For twenty-five years, middle-grade readers have been moved by this telling of Sadako Sasaki's spirited battle with leukemia. She was two-years-old when the atom bomb was dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War II, and dizzy spells began when she was twelve. She faced the disease with an irrepressible spirit and focused her energy (and that of everyone who knew her) o...more

Paperback, 80 pages

Published April 21st 2005 by Puffin (first published 1977)

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Jun 07, 2011 K.D. Oliveros rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: Kwesi 章英狮

Shelves: newberry, childrens

Sadako Sasaki was 12 years old when she died of leukemia. This was due to the radiation from the atomic bomb that was dropped by an American pilot in her hometown in Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. She was 2 years old then and had no memory of the war whatsoever. This 1977 book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleonor Coerr, a Canadian-American, was published twenty-two years after Sadako’s death. To explain the title, there is this belief in Japan that if you are sick, fold 1,000...more Sadako Sasaki was 12 years old when she died of leukemia. This was due to the radiation from the atomic bomb that was dropped by an American pilot in her hometown in Hiroshima, Japan during World War II. She was 2 years old then and had no memory of the war whatsoever. This 1977 book, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleonor Coerr, a Canadian-American, was published twenty-two years after Sadako’s death. To explain the title, there is this belief in Japan that if you are sick, fold 1,000 paper cranes and you will get well. According to this book, Sadako Sasaki was only able to fold 644 before her death.

She and her thousand paper cranes are now among the symbols of world peace in Japan. During the annual Obon festival, students from all over the world visit her statue in Hiroshima and leave paper cranes at its foot. A plaque on the statue reads: "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth." This book has been translated to many languages and is now being used in primary schools around the world to teach children the importance of world peace. (Source: Wiki). This is how her statue looks like:

On the other hand, her more popular namesake, Sadako Yamamura is this fictional antagonist in the 1991-Japanese horror film, The Ring. Unlike the peace-loving Sadako Sasaki and her thousand paper cranes, this Sadako is pure evil particularly in her ghostly state. She haunts and kills everyone who comes in her way when she wants to take her revenge on people who saw this VHS tape showing some kind of water well that when covered takes the shape of a ring. She first calls up the viewer who rented and watched her VHS not to announce the he/she won a prize like when you are spotted by a camera watching a certain TV series but to tell him/her of his/her death in the next 24 hours. This is how she looks like when she goes outside the TV to kill the viewer of her VHS:

Sadako's name is Japanese for "chaste child" (sada: chaste and ko: child). I am not sure if Sadako is a common name in Japan but I thought that the novelist Koji Suzuki who wrote the book The Ring (Ringu) somewhat dishonored the memory of Sadako Sasaki but naming his antagonist based on a well-loved symbol of world peace in Japan. I might be mistaken though because Mary (or its variants like Maria, Mari, Marianne or Marie) is so common that many people, regardless whether saints and sinners, have adopted or affixed the Mother of God's name to his or her own.

Anyway, this is a thin and easy to read book basically relating the last 9 months or so of Sadako Sasaki’s life on earth. Heartfelt story with a subtle message from Japan to America when the author, a Canadian-American, wrote this line: “We keep on saying that we remember Pearl Harbor. Remember Pearl Harbor. However, let’s not forget Hiroshima and Nagasaki.” Prior to the start of my reading, I knew that this was a sad story. However, I thought that the book’s 63 pages were too few for Coerr to be able to fully develop her characters so I would be able to forge sympathy with any of them. I was wrong. That portion when the dying Sadako was hearing her mother’s rubber slippers was able to squeeze few drops of tears from my eyes literally.

Normally, when a book is so good that it was able to make me cry or laugh, I automatically give it a 5-star rating. However, I am giving this a star less. Reason is that I have a newer and more comprehensive version of Sadako Sasaki’s story, 1997-published book by Takayuki Ishii’s One Thousand Paper Cranes and he debunked several aspects of Coeer’s version.

Still Ishii’s version talks about the saintly Sadako Sasaki and not the evil Sadako Yamamura. Now we all know which is which. (less)

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May 28, 2008 Keely rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: childhood, contemporary-fiction, reviewed, american, asia

They had us make our own cranes when we read this during middle school. I was new to origami, but it only took a couple of minutes to make the crane. I suddenly wondered how long it would take to make a thousand. At two minutes a crane, sitting in bed and doing it for, say, eight out of my sixteen waking hours, I'd be done in less than a week.

This seemed funny to me, until I read that the real Sadako did finish her thousand cranes in less then a month, and kept on folding more. But since the boo...more

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Keely Thanks, I'm glad you found something in it that spurred your thought. I do appreciate your comments and ideas.

It's true that it's difficult to concept...more Thanks, I'm glad you found something in it that spurred your thought. I do appreciate your comments and ideas.

It's true that it's difficult to conceptualize the suffering of thousands, but that is precisely the danger. Since it is easier to sympathize with the suffering of one person, it is easy for authors to turn that suffering into a political message and to gain the sympathy of their readers.

The reason this book in particular bothered me was because it took for its example of suffering one of the least common and unusual cases of death in the war: those who died from the fallout of the nuclear weapon attack.

By focusing on this, the author does create great sympathy, but presents a skewed world view, specifically one that bolsters Japanese nationalism and anti-nuclear sentiment.

It frustrates me because she doesn't explore the use of nuclear weapons as an idea, she merely condemns it out of hand, despite the fact that very few people (comparatively) died in these attacks, and yet they served to end a war that was causing millions of deaths and promised to cause many more.

I won't say that their use was entirely justified, that's a bigger argument, but Coerr doesn't present the complexity of that argument to the children, she presents a story so over-simplified that it serves as propaganda. It's even more one-sided than the real story it was based on.

I don't know if she was portraying the 'realities of life and war' in a 'real way', because she was hyperbolizing the suffering of one sided and ignoring the fact that such suffering was occurring on both sides.

To me, the book evoked the same sense of unequal representation we see from the fact that any time a white college girl goes missing, we don't stop hearing about it for months (or years), but if a black girl goes missing, the story won't last more than a week. Yet, more black girls than white girls go missing, statistically, so the news is presenting a fake reality to us that statistically is the opposite of what is actually happening.

That's always the danger of focusing on the pain of a single person: if you choose the wrong person, you create a world-view that is biased, unbalanced, and inaccurate to reality.

Kids don't have great critical faculties, so what are the chances that they will question the heart-wrenching message of this book and ask what the political reason for the little girl's suffering was, or how many other people suffered in other ways during the war?

It seems more likely to me that they will simply turn the sympathy they feel for the character into uninformed political and historical stances about WWII, which is not productive or educational, it is merely emotional propaganda.(less)
Apr 19, 2010 10:17am

Samuel why I think it is cool
Apr 04, 2013 07:19am

Mar 08, 2011 Yasna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This book is the best I have ever read.It is about a girl named Sadako who had got a disease called Leukemia. People caught Leukemia after the atom bomb had blasted in Japan and people had died from it. And many year later out of no where Sadako caught it and she had to be hospitalized for many months. Sadako was very upset because she had gotten a chance to run a race for school and now she can't even participate because of her weakness.Her friend told her that if she makes one thousand paper c...more

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Mar 04, 2007 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Childhood. Hawaii. Asian influences all around me. Probably read this in fourth grade or something in Mrs. Murakami's class. Good book though.

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Jul 26, 2012 Mariana rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. The reason I read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes was because it was recommend to me by my friend. At first I wasn’t so much into the book but as I kept reading I was soon pulled in by the girl’s sad and tragic tale. It made me cry lots of times. The book was so interesting that it was hard for me to let it down.

The tale took place during World War 2 after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. The U.S. in retaliation, bombed the two places they believed had all the military forces, Hiroshi...more The reason I read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes was because it was recommend to me by my friend. At first I wasn’t so much into the book but as I kept reading I was soon pulled in by the girl’s sad and tragic tale. It made me cry lots of times. The book was so interesting that it was hard for me to let it down.

The tale took place during World War 2 after the Japanese had bombed Pearl Harbor. The U.S. in retaliation, bombed the two places they believed had all the military forces, Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Because of the booming, Sadako developed the atom bomb diseased (leukemia).The first time her friends and family first realized she had leukemia was when she was at school during a track race. They notice that she looked as if she was out of breath which was out of the ordinary for Sadako. Sadako was quickly taken to the hospital. While she was at the hospital she met a boy who had the same condition as she had. She tried to cheer him up with the legend of the thousand paper cranes. The legend goes that if a person would finish the thousand paper cranes they would be granted one wish. He was happy to know that but when she finished talking to him, however, he died that night in his sleep. She was sad to know that he was dead because she wanted to keep talking with him. In the end, her friends decided to make the thousand paper cranes so that they could wish that Sadako didn't have to die. But when they had finished Sadako was dead.

To me, the meaning of this book means to cherish life. But also the ugly side of the effects of nuclear bombs. This gives the viewer the opportunity to see the point of view of the horrible atrocities that occurred when the bombs landed in Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the deaths and injuries of innocent civilians, including children, by having it shown through Sadako. The reason why I rated it a 4 star and not a 5 is because Sadako died, and I usually love happy endings but at the same times there are never happy endings in war or nuclear bombings. I recommend this book to everyone no matter the age. It is a good book because it shows the terrible sight that war plays on innocent people caught in a war which they play no part of.
(less)

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Jul 23, 2012 MizziQ rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 12, 2010 Amanda added it · review of another edition

Snapshot: A short, simply written narrative about a young girl affected by the nuclear bombs dropped in Japan during WWII. As she is diagnosed with Leukemia, Sadako believes that by creating 1000 paper cranes she will stave off inevitable death. The story is about her hope, perseverance, love, and untimely death.

Hook: The book is short and very accessible to ELLs. As one studies the themes of war and its aftermath, Sadako offers an interesting perspective--she is suffering the consequences of a...more

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May 10, 2013 Sarah rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book in second grade with my grandma and I loved it. My grandma is Japanese and she lived through the Hiroshima bombing. She used to tell me about her journey to the US with her sick mother and younger brother. About a year or two ago, my grandma had a stroke. I miss it when she used to tell me stories about her adventures. But one of the worst parts about the stroke is she lost ability to move most of the right side of her body, and for me, that broke my heart. That ment that my gra...more

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May 06, 2013 Sienna Bowler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a marvelous quick read non-fiction book written by Eleanor Coerr and published in 1977.
This true story is of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed a sickness from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami paper cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created a thousand origami paper cra...more

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May 02, 2013 Sienna Bowler rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a marvelous quick read non-fiction book was written by Eleanor Coerr and published in 1977.
This true story is of a girl, Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. She developed a sickness from the radiation and spent her time in a nursing home creating origami paper cranes in hope of making a thousand of them. She was inspired to do so by the Japanese legend that one who created a thousand origami paper...more

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Mar 14, 2013 Linsay Piersawl rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics

Eleanor Coerr writes a book based on a true story of a young Japanese girl who was born in her native land two years before the end of WWII. We meet a young Sadako who any reader, old or young, instantly fall in love with. Sadako and her family, live together on a farm that is close the area in Japan where an atomic bomb was dropped in 1945. While Sadako and many of her peers are aware of the horrible events that make up the past they have been lucky enough to not be directly affected. Sadako li...more

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Nov 19, 2012 Chelsea rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classic

This book is very beneficial for students to read. It touches on a serious topic from a very different point of view. It is about a girl named Sadako who lives in Hiroshima, Japan from 1943 to 1955. Sudako was full of energy and dreamed of being a runner. Although Sadako was only a baby when the United States dropped an atom bomb on her city, the long- term effects of the poison it released are evident when Sadako was diagnosed with Leukemia. Although Sadako was sick and scared, she remained ful...more This book is very beneficial for students to read. It touches on a serious topic from a very different point of view. It is about a girl named Sadako who lives in Hiroshima, Japan from 1943 to 1955. Sudako was full of energy and dreamed of being a runner. Although Sadako was only a baby when the United States dropped an atom bomb on her city, the long- term effects of the poison it released are evident when Sadako was diagnosed with Leukemia. Although Sadako was sick and scared, she remained full of hope and spirit. She believed in good luck signs and tried to stay positive. Her best friend showed her how to make paper cranes and told her how if she made a thousand of them her wish would come true. Sudako spent her days in the hospital making cranes, befriending other patients, visiting with her family, and writing to her friends and pen pals. Her brother, as promised, hung all of her cranes from her ceiling. Despite her determination, Sudako only made it to six hundred and forty-four. The book ended with Sadako staring up at her cranes which, "seemed to be alive and flying out through the open window." In the epilogue it explains how her classmates folded the remaining three hundred and fifty-six cranes so that she was burred with a thousand. Sudako's friends raised enough money for a monument to be built in the Hiroshima Peace Park for Sadako and the other children who were killed by the atom bomb. Sadako was and remains to be an inspiration and heroine to the children of Japan. This book is excellent for students to read when studying Japan and especially the atom bomb because it shows what happened from a point of view different than the one they are used to. The situation is told from a Japanese perspective, rather than an American one. It would also make the bomb and it's effects seem more real and understandable coming from a child of their own age rather than a history book. I would recommend this book for a 5th grade classroom because of it's more mature content. It could easily be tied into a history or social studies lesson of Japan. It would also be a fun opportunity to teach origami and incorporate an art lesson. There are illustrations in the book that show what the cranes look like and other aspects of the story. The paintings also illustrate Japanese culture, such as the silk kimono Sudako's mother made for her or the ceremonies of the Japanese Peace Day, a memorial day of those who died when the bomb was dropped. (less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Bookmarks Reviews rated it 5 of 5 stars

Rating: 4.8/5 stars

Today seems like a good day for a playlist review, right? I think so, at least. And I think I’m going to do Sadako and the Thousand Paper Planes by Eleanor Coerr.

Anyone who’s passed third grade has read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, and there’s a good reason for that. It’s a very short story that has lasting power and great discussion power, about a girl who’s still quite young. It calls on people’s empathy, even grumpy nine-year-olds’. Plus it’s a beautiful story abou...more

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Jul 28, 2012 Sarah Hurdelbrink rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: social-justice-text-set

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is based on the true story of the life of Sadako Sasaki, a girl who contracts leukemia as a result of her exposure to radiation during the atomic bombing of Hiroshima, Japan. Throughout the story, Sadako demonstrates her passion for life and peace by attempting to fold 1,000 origami paper cranes as instructed by a traditional Japanese legend that states she will be granted one wish if she succeeds. Her friends and family continue to show determination in achi...more

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Jul 21, 2012 Ana rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

As a classroom teacher, I always am on the lookout for great books to read to my students. Considering that a lot of my students come into my class not wanting to read all that much...imagine that!...I try to go with a book that is not too long in length, yet really makes a lasting impression. "Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes" is one of the most heartwrenching stories ever written, in my opinion. The main character, Sadako, falls ill and is told by a good friend that should she fold a thous...more

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May 30, 2012 Bethann rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes by Eleanor Coerr is an excellent non fiction novel for children. At just 68 pages, it’s short enough for some of the newest readers and the vocabulary is simple enough that it won’t frighten a younger reader away but leaves room for them to infer.
Eleanor Coerr did an amazing job of taking a tragic event that is taught in schools all over America (the bombing of Hiroshima) and turned into a splendid children’s novel of hope and determination. There are many...more

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Feb 29, 2012 L12_luisespinoza Espinoza rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fic

This book is a moving and inspiring story that follows a young Japanese girl named Sadako Sasaki who suffered from the effects of the atomic bomb attack on Hiroshima in August of 1945.

The book recounts Sadako as a healthy young girl who enjoys running, and going to the Peace Day festival every year with her best friend, Chizuko. One day after she runs in a relay race for her school, 12 year old Sadako starts to feel dizzy and she doesn't tell anyone about it, so it becomes her secret. As time go...more

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Jan 06, 2012 Irene rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children, young-adult, wwii, non-fiction

At age two, Sadako Sasaki was a survivor of the bombing of Hiroshima. When she contracted leukemia from the radiation, she began folding origami cranes. A Japanese legend contends that if a person folds 1,000 paper cranes then their gods will grant that person one wish.

Upon reading this book, sometimes adults get wrapped up in historical debates. I've heard some people decry the American bombings, while others criticize Japan's expansionist agenda. I think this book is very open about its pacifi...more

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Nov 04, 2011 Megan Baker rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children-s-literature

This book is a biography that is in audio book format and it is intended for intermediate readers. This book is about a young girl who is born in Hiroshima shortly after the atomic bomb is dropped. She becomes ill because of the bomb and must be admitted into the hospital. To pass time at the hospital she begins to make origami cranes and ends up making hundreds.
Even though this was not an actual book and it was on audio I enjoyed it much more. I enjoyed just sitting and listening to the stor...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Sarah Landwehr rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

“Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” by Eleanor Coerr is a classic chapter book that details the beautiful and true story of Sadako, a young girl living in the Hiroshima, Japan, who dreams of being on the junior high school relay team. Sadako trains long and hard to be able to run as fast as possible, but she keeps her spells of dizziness after running a secret. When she collapses after running one day, she goes to the hospital and learns that she’s contracted leukemia from the radioactive wav...more

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Oct 30, 2011 Catherine Kirk rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Classics

“Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” is a chapter book about an 11-year-old girl living in Japan. Like many people who were in Hiroshima when America dropped the atom bomb, she eventually develops Leukemia from the radiation she encountered over her lifetime. In order to be granted her wish to get better, Sadako tries to fold 1,000 paper cranes, but she only folds 644 before she passes away from the disease. The epilogue explains that after her death, Sadako’s classmates finished foldi...more Classics

“Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes” is a chapter book about an 11-year-old girl living in Japan. Like many people who were in Hiroshima when America dropped the atom bomb, she eventually develops Leukemia from the radiation she encountered over her lifetime. In order to be granted her wish to get better, Sadako tries to fold 1,000 paper cranes, but she only folds 644 before she passes away from the disease. The epilogue explains that after her death, Sadako’s classmates finished folding the cranes for her and collected her letters into a book that travelled all around Japan. Eventually, a memorial was constructed in her memory.

There are a few illustrations throughout the book that are printed in black and white. Although they aren’t colorful and bright, they still help convey the message of what is happening in the story and how the emotions are changing throughout the book from Sadako being happy and carefree in the beginning to very sad and scared in the end.

This is a wonderful story about a courageous young girl and the difficulties she must go through because of the atom bomb. It could open doors to discussions on WWII, Hiroshima, and Leukemia. Because the main character dies and struggles so much with the fear of death in the end of the story, I don’t think this book was intended for early elementary children. I just don’t think a first grader would understand the full depth of the story. However, I think that fourth and fifth graders would be able to understand the story and digest it without being traumatized by the death of the main character. I think this would be a good book for independent reading or for small group discussion reading, and I can see using it as a read aloud as well. I know it could open doors for great discussion, but because of the topic of death being such a major part of the story, I would probably send home a letter to parents before reading this in class.

Overall, this is a wonderful story and I think it’s one that children need to know because it’s true. I think it would help them understand WWII better and would help them to see how their actions can have an impact far further into the future than they may think.(less)

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Jul 28, 2011 Seahee Park added it · review of another edition

It was such a lamentable story because it is based on a true event. When I was in middle school, the same age as Sadako, being a Korean and when learning about the nuclear bomb dropping at Hiroshima, Japan, I did not feel pity for the incident because while Japan occupied Korea for such a long time they'd done too many inhuman things to Koreans. However, as I read through the book, there was a subtle change in my heart.

In the book, Sadako was just a baby when the bomb was dropped at Hiroshima a...more

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Jul 24, 2011 Book Concierge rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This is a compelling story of a real girl who lived in Japan from 1943 to 1955. Sadako Sasaki was born in Hiroshima, and was just a baby at the end of WW 2. Her grandmother was killed when the United States dropped the atomic bomb on her city. As the book opens, it is nine years after that terrible day, and the citizens of Hiroshima are about to celebrate Peace Day. Sadako’s parents remind her and her siblings that the celebration is not just an occasion for a carnival, but a solemn opportunity...more

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Feb 19, 2011 Robert rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I'm afraid that I can't offer much in terms of review for this, as I read it nearly eight years ago (wow, time flies...), but I can say that it was one of the most inspiring books I've read in my life. It sparked my first interest in origami, and ever since, I have been happily folding paper. Although I'm more interested in various other forms of origami, mostly the modular variant, I have folded the thousand cranes three times, and am in the process of my fourth, within the past two years.

Sadak...more

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Jan 25, 2011 Xiaojuanwu rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 11th-grade-2nd-quarter

Every crane a girl folds, every day she wishes to be survived from her illness. This girl in the book is named, Sadako. She is a Japanese, who has leukemia due to the time period that United States used atomic bombed toward Hiroshima in Japan.She stays at hospital for nursing to get well at same time she is folding a paper cranes each day until she has thousands of them. Each crane carries a simple wish, to live.

What happen if she did not finish before she die?

I like this book because is very t...more

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Apr 22, 2010 Joanie rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-more-than-once, read-as-a-kid

I distinctly remember sitting in the library in elementary school and the librarian showing us this book along with some other books the school library had just gotten. After she finished talking we all clamored up to the check out desk to put our names on the list for this book-I couldn't wait to read it. I read this and cried and read it again and cried-and I'm sure probably again after that.

Sadako is a young girl (10 or 12 I think) who has lived through the bombing of Hiroshima. She remembers...more

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Apr 06, 2010 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: children

Sadako the touching and loving story of a young girl facing the "bomb disease" -- leukemia. The author deals with the subjects of disease, loss, and death with the sensitivity needed for a younger audience.

I purchased my copy from book distributor Hampton-Brown. The publishers have added nice questions at the end of each chapter to discuss and share. An excellent addition for those who would like to read the book with their child or in a classroom setting.

The publisher begins the story with the...more

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Dec 05, 2009 earthy rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, juvenile

Twelve-year-old Sasaki Sadako leads an idyllic life with her family in Hiroshima following World War II, but her life is turned upside down when she contracts leukemia from the Hiroshima bomb. Inspired by a legend that anyone who folds one thousand paper cranes will become well again, Sadako begins to make cranes in the hopes that it will cure her.

Himler's occasional full-page black-and-white drawings aren't completely necessary to the story, but they do illustrate some of the cultural elements...more

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Jul 19, 2009 Jaisha Taveras rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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May 19, 2009 Samantha Santos rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

This was a very sad and dramtic story of how a little girl became very ill and was stuck in the hospital for months. Her only hope was her paper cranes. She new of the old saying of folding 1,000 paper cranes that god would grant her wish. So everyday she would fold paper cranes. She then meets a friend at the hospital. A young boy that is also very sick and is acutally in the process of slowly dieing. The doctors would always lie to him and tell him he's doing better but he knew how to read his...more

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About Eleanor Coerr

Eleanor Coerr was born in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Saskatoon. Two of her favorite childhood hobbies were reading and making up stories.

Her fascination with Japan began when she received a book called Little Pictures of Japan one Christmas. It showed children in beautiful kimonos playing games, chasing butterflies, and catching crickets. She pored over the colored illustrations...more Eleanor Coerr was born in Kamsack, Saskatchewan, Canada, and grew up in Saskatoon. Two of her favorite childhood hobbies were reading and making up stories.

Her fascination with Japan began when she received a book called Little Pictures of Japan one Christmas. It showed children in beautiful kimonos playing games, chasing butterflies, and catching crickets. She pored over the colored illustrations, dreaming of one day joining those children in Japan. Her best friend in high school was a Japanese girl whose family introduced her to brush painting, eating with chopsticks, and origami. Eleanor's desire to visit that magical place never faded, and her well-thumbed copy of that favorite book is still in her library.

Eleanor began her professional life as a newspaper reporter and editor of a column for children. Luckily, she traveled to Japan in 1949 as a writer for the Ottawa Journal, since none of the other staff wanted to go to a country that had been devastated by war. To learn Japanese, Eleanor lived on a farm near Yonago for about one year, absorbing the culture and enjoying rural celebrations. Soon she was able to visit nearby schools and speak to young audiences about her country. Eleanor wrote and illustrated Circus Day in Japan, using the farm family and a visit to the circus as models. It was published in Tokyo in 1953.

Her most difficult trip while she was in Japan was to Hiroshima. Eleanor was shocked by the horrible destruction and death caused by one atom bomb. Of course, she did not know Sadako Sasaki at that time, although she was living there with her family. The misery and suffering Eleanor witnessed was burned into her mind, and she hoped future world leaders would avoid wars at all costs.

One beautiful day in 1963, Eleanor revisited Hiroshima and saw the statue of Sadako in the Hiroshima Peace Park. Impressed by the stories she heard about Sadako's talent for running, courage when faced with cancer, and determination to fold one thousand paper cranes, Eleanor was inspired to find a copy of Kokeshi, Sadako's autobiography.

Eleanor looked everywhere she could think of and asked all of her Japanese friends to help. Since the school had copied the ninety-four pages and stapled them together, most of the books had fallen apart. Years passed, and Eleanor continued writing for newspapers in various countries and wrote more children's books. But she was always hoping to find Kokeshi.

One fateful afternoon, Eleanor was having tea with a missionary who had lived in Hiroshima all through the war.

"Eleanor," she said, "you should write a biography of Sadako Sasaki for American children to read."

"I would love to," said Eleanor, "but I must have Kokeshi to get all the true facts about Sadako."

The missionary took Eleanor to her attic. Lo and behold, at the bottom of an old trunk was an original copy of Kokeshi. Eleanor rushed to have it translated properly and began writing Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes as soon as she could.

"It's like magic. I was meant to write her story," Eleanor said.(less)

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