The Peace Bell is a great book! I love how the bell makes the community happy and a better place. Everyone became so excited when the Americans brought their bell back. It is amazing how one bell can turn the community into a happier place again. The book is very easy to understand and has pages that do not have an overwhelming amount of text on them. I really enjoyed this book! ( )

A truly sad story about a bell that people loved and how it was going to be turned into scrape for World War 2. The book was a joy to read and it reminded me of how even after the war both America and Japan still find ways to amend our relationship, even with small things such as a bell. Not only was the story amazing but the pictures were just as great. The images really captured life in Japan during the 1940's and I felt I could just jump into those pictures and be present with Yuko and her family. After reading the book, I read the end note of the story and I was shocked to find out this story was fiction but based on a more real story in Isumi City. This book was definitely worth the read. ( )

This is the story of a Japanese temple bell sent to the scrap heap during WWII to be melted down to make weapons. It was spared and sent to Minnesota for a while and then eventually returned to its village in Japan as a gesture of peace.

Based upon the true story of the American-Japanese Friendship Peace Bell, this lovely little picture-book is an exploration of the cultural losses associated with war, and the possibility for healing that peace brings. It follows the story of a Japanese woman (then a girl) whose village donates their temple bell to be used as scrap metal during World War II. Somehow, miraculously, the bell survives, and ends up in Minnesota. Eventually, it is returned to its home, and new bonds of friendship are formed...

Margi Preus' gentle narrative paints an evocative portrait of one young woman's sense of loss, both during the war: "As the war went on, nobody sang anymore... And though I tried to hold the song of the bell close to me, it was so far away that not even an echo remained;" and long afterward: "Years passed and my heart began to fill up... But there was still an empty spot in my heart where the bell's song used to live." The journey of the bell, made all the more powerful by being filtered through the lens of one individual's experience, is also recorded in Hideko Takahashi's acrylic illustrations, which capture the emotions of each scene perfectly. A brief afterward gives the basic facts of the "real" story. Highly recommended! ( )

This story tells of the Japanese Temple Bells that were donated to make shells and casings for bullets during WWII. The bell was used to chase away the worries of the world. The bell ends up in Minnesota and over time it is returned to the town by Americans as a sign of peace between the two countries. ( )