Hiroshima No Pika: The Flash of Hiroshima

Synopsis
"Based on a true story, this book tells of a Japanese girl who was seven years old when The Bomb fell on Hiroshima. The blast, fire, shock, devastation and death she witnessed are described. Years later, the girl lights candles for an annual remembrance ceremony. She lights one for her dead father and one for a swallow she remembers hopping along after its wings were singed by the flames." (Interracial Books Child Bull) "Grades two to four." (Bull Cent Child Books) Originally published in Japan in 1980.

Annotation
The heartbreaking experiences of seven-year-old Mii and her parents, which began at 8:15 a.m., August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. "A forceful statement of the need for nuclear disarmament."--Publishers Weekly. ALA Notable Children's Book.

From the Publisher
The heartbreaking experiences of 7-year-old Mii and her parents, which began at 8:15 AM, August 6, 1945, when the atomic bomb "Little Boy" was dropped on the city of Hiroshima. "A forceful statement of the need for nuclear disarmament."—Publishers Weekly. "An extremely important book that should be bought and discussed with children in homes, schools, and libraries."—Booklist.

From the Critics
From Natalie Babbitt - The New York Times Book Review  
{Maruki} is a prize-winning artist, and the text is eloquent. But I would not give this book to anyone under the age of 10; it is far too strong. Neither would I give it to anyone over the age of 10; it is far too incomplete. .. . The war that led up to {the dropping of the bombs} is barely suggested. It seems a random event, like the eruption of a volcano--and this it decidedly was not. Children must learn on an ascending scale, according to their capability for understanding. They cannot swallow in one gulp such a graphic tract against nuclear warfare and be thereby prepared to stand against a recurrence.
 
From Lyla Hoffman - Interracial Books for Children Bulletin  
The impressionistic paintings are both delicate and powerful, haunting in their imagery of death and suffering. (The book won a prestigious artistic award in Japan.) The text is barely needed. . . . The publisher suggests that the book is suitable for twelve-year-olds and up, but twelve-year-olds do not read picture books on their own. I would use this book with grades two and up, and it could also be used with even younger children. . . . I would not suggest reading the book to large groups of children, however, unless there was a great deal of prior discussion and mood-setting. Many of the people shown, both alive and dead, are nude, and some children might react by giggling.