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Kimiko Kajikawa

Goodreads Author

Born

The United States

Website

http://www.author4kids.com

Genre

Children's Books, Arts & Photography

Influences

Growing up half-Japanese, animals, basset hounds, brownies and butterc ...more

Member Since

January 2009

URL

https://www.goodreads.com/KimikoKajikawa

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Kimiko's true love of reading and writing began one day at her local library. Kimiko says, "My local librarian asked me if I had ever read Harriet the Spy. She said that it was a great book, and I immediately took it home. I read the entire book that day! I was so disappointed when it ended that I reread it immediately. I had to find a way to keep the spirit of Harriet the Spy alive with me, so I began to keep a journal. And spy on people. I did not follow anyone, but I would try to pick up what people were saying, and I would study their mannerisms. I think Harriet the Spy was the book that got me to write because I really started to look at the world and put down what I saw on paper."

By fifth grade, Kimiko won an essay contest sponsored b Kimiko's true love of reading and writing began one day at her local library. Kimiko says, "My local librarian asked me if I had ever read Harriet the Spy. She said that it was a great book, and I immediately took it home. I read the entire book that day! I was so disappointed when it ended that I reread it immediately. I had to find a way to keep the spirit of Harriet the Spy alive with me, so I began to keep a journal. And spy on people. I did not follow anyone, but I would try to pick up what people were saying, and I would study their mannerisms. I think Harriet the Spy was the book that got me to write because I really started to look at the world and put down what I saw on paper."

By fifth grade, Kimiko won an essay contest sponsored by the Philadelphia Inquirer. Her essay was about Abraham Lincoln and her victory earned her $3. At that moment, Kimiko concluded that, "Writing was a great way to make a living."

Kimiko won another writing contest when she was twelve, and this time she got to spend a day at the Bucks County Courier Times writing her own column. "I loved it. They took me around and introduced me to all the people that put the newspaper together. I felt like somebody special until they ran my photo in the paper. I was horrified that everyone at school would see it. I looked so nerdy!"

In high school, Kimiko was published in Seventeen Magazine. She was also the assistant editor and columnist for her high school newspaper. "At that point," Kimiko says, "I told my parents that I wanted to become a writer. My parents were unhappy with my decision. They told me that I should become a businesswoman instead."

Kimiko's mom is Japanese and her dad is American. Her parents met after World War II. They didn't even speak the same language when they were married.

Her mom was born in Tokyo in 1929. In an essay that Kimiko wrote when she was in eighth grade, she said, "There are no pictures of my mother when she was a child because they were all burned during the war. My mother was eleven years old when World War II started. During the war, she sometimes only had toothpaste to eat. And she would often see burned bodies on the side of the road. All the bodies were black, she would say, except for the teeth."

During the war, Kimiko's mother lost nine relatives in one day during the bombing of Hiroshima. Soon after the war, Kimiko's grandmother died of cancer. The very next day, her aunt fell from a train and died from head injuries. Kimiko says, "My mom's life is filled with tragic stories that she rarely tells."

"In fact, my family has been the inspiration for most of my books. I credit my son, Chris, for starting my career as an author. When he was little, he fell in love with trains. What Chris wanted most in the world was a book with photographs of steam trains for young children. Fortunately, for me, that book didn't exist. After two years of searching, I decided to write and photograph the book that Chris so desperately wanted to read."

According to Kimiko, "Working on my books has helped me make sense of my life and helped me deal with the pain of growing up Eurasian. There were children in my neighborhood who wouldn't play with me when I was a kid. Some of them threw rocks at me and called me, "slanty eyes." Having grown up wishing I looked like most everyone else, I understand how important it is to give children an awareness and appreciation of our external differences and a realization that, underneath it all, we are very much the same. I feel that through teaching children to respect others we give them something even more important: self-respect."

"For several years, I have truly enjoyed reading old Japanese folklore and adapting those stories for an American audience. This is very therapeutic work for me. When I was little, I would go to sleep and wish that I would wake up looking like all the other kids. Now, I take pride in my heritage. Writing books has helped me grow as a person. I ...more

Combine Editions
Kimiko Kajikawa’s books

Average rating: 3.95 · 848 ratings · 229 reviews · 5 distinct works • Similar authors

	Tsunami! by Kimiko Kajikawa (Goodreads Author), Ed Young (Illustrator) 3.96 avg rating — 643 ratings — published 2009 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Yoshi's Feast by Kimiko Kajikawa (Goodreads Author), Yumi Heo 3.83 avg rating — 109 ratings — published 2000	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Close to You: How Animals Bond 4.04 avg rating — 50 ratings — published 2008 — 2 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sweet Dreams: How Animals Sleep really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 46 ratings — 4 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Bug Club Pro Guided Year 6 A Tsunami Unfolds 0.00 avg rating — 0 ratings	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

More books by Kimiko Kajikawa…

Polls

What book is your second pick for a Caldecott honor?

(Send me a message or write a comment if you want me to add a book to this list.)

The Curious Garden by Peter Brown

2 votes 13.3%

Tsunami! by Kimiko Kajikawa

2 votes 13.3%

Mermaid Queen The Spectacular True Story Of Annette Kellerman, Who Swam Her Way To Fame, Fortune & Swimsuit History! by Shana Corey

2 votes 13.3%

Duck! Rabbit! by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

2 votes 13.3%

14 Cows for America by Carmen Agra Deedy

1 vote 6.7%

The Lion & the Mouse by Jerry Pinkney

1 vote 6.7%

Moonshot The Flight of Apollo 11 by Brian Floca

1 vote 6.7%

Red Sings from Treetops A Year in Colors by Joyce Sidman

1 vote 6.7%

All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon

1 vote 6.7%

The Storm in the Barn by Matt Phelan

1 vote 6.7%

The Duchess of Whimsy by Randall de Sève

1 vote 6.7%

Birds by Kevin Henkes

0 votes 0.0%

Zero Is The Leaves On The Tree by Betsy Franco

0 votes 0.0%

All in a Day by Cynthia Rylant

0 votes 0.0%

Darwin One Beetle Too Many by Kathryn Lasky

0 votes 0.0%

Dinotrux by Chris Gall

0 votes 0.0%

A Curious Collection of Cats by Betsy Franco

0 votes 0.0%

Otis by Loren Long

0 votes 0.0%

Hello Baby! by Mem Fox

0 votes 0.0%

Once Upon a Twice by Denise Doyen

0 votes 0.0%

Chicken Little by Rebecca Emberley

0 votes 0.0%

Listen to the Wind: the Story of Dr. Greg & Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson

0 votes 0.0%

15 total votes

2 comments

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Topics Mentioning This Author

topics	posts	views	last activity
Mock Caldecott 2027: July reads for Caldecott 2010	1	24	Jul 31, 2009 05:22PM
What's the Name o...: ABANDONED. Children's illustrated, Tidal wave/Tsunami, set in Asia	26	1543	Mar 08, 2022 08:52PM

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Kimiko Kajikawa’s Followers (10)

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Kimiko’s Friends (22)

Kimiko Kajikawa

Goodreads Author

Combine EditionsKimiko Kajikawa’s books

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Topics Mentioning This Author

Kimiko’s Friend Comments

Combine Editions
Kimiko Kajikawa’s books