Name: The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden
ISBN: 9781459821033

Heather Smith

This gorgeously illustrated picture book tells the story of a young Japanese boy who loses his dad in a tsunami.

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden

Sarah Sammis

The Phone Booth in Mr. Hirota's Garden by Heather Smith and Rachel Wada is a picture book inspired by an NPR report. In 2010 in Japan, Itaru Saski built a phone booth with a disconnected phone. It was his way of addressing his grief. His phone booth drew hundreds of mourners, all who wanted to send a message on the wind.

Heather Smith took this story and recontextualized it against the 2011 tsunami. Makio had a routine where he would have to his father and watch him and the others go out to sea to fish. On the day of the tsunami he loses his father and his voice.