Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (2024)

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes, Eleanor Coerr

Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is a children's historical novel written by Canadian-American author Eleanor Coerr and published in 1977. It is set in Japan after World War II. The short novel is a fictional retelling of the story of Sadako Sasaki, who lived in Hiroshima at the time of the atomic bombing by the United States. Sadako was 2 years old when the atomic bomb (Little Boy) was dropped on August 6, 1945, near her home by Misasa Bridge in Hiroshima, Japan. She was at home when the explosion occurred, about one mile from ground zero.

In November 1954, when she was 12 she developed swellings on her neck and behind her ears. In January 1955, purple spots had formed on her legs. Subsequently, she was diagnosed with leukemia (her mother referred to it as "an atom bomb disease"). She was hospitalized on February 21, 1955, and given a year to live.

After being diagnosed with leukemia from the radiation, Sadako's friend told her to fold origami paper cranes (orizuru) 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 cranes would be granted a wish.

Her wish was simply to live. In this retelling of her story, she managed to fold only 644 cranes before she became too weak to fold any more, and died on the morning of October 25, 1955. Her friends and family helped finish her dream by folding the rest of the cranes, which were buried with Sadako. However, the claim in the book that Sadako "died before completing the 1000 cranes, and her two friends completed the task, placing the finished cranes in her casket" is not backed up by her surviving family members.

According to her family, and especially her older brother Masahiro Sasaki who speaks on his sister's life at events, Sadako not only exceeded 644 cranes, she exceeded her goal of 1000 and died having folded approximately 1400 paper cranes. Masahiro Sadako, says in his book The Complete Story of Sadako Sasaki that she exceeded her goal.

Mr. Sasaki and the family have donated some of Sadako's cranes at places of importance around the world: in NYC at the 9-11 memorial, at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, at The Truman Library & Museum on November 19, 2015, at Museum Of Tolerance on May 26, 2016, and the Japanese-American National Museum three days later. USS Arizona Crane Donation and President Truman Museum Donation helped by Mr. Clifton Truman Daniel who is the grandson of President Truman.

After her death, Sadako's friends and schoolmates published a collection of letters in order to raise funds to build a memorial to her and all of the children who had died from the effects of the atomic bomb. In 1958, a statue of Sadako holding a golden crane was unveiled in the Hiroshima Peace Memorial, also called the Genbaku Dome, and installed in the Hiroshima Peace Park.

At the foot of the statue is a plaque that reads: "This is our cry. This is our prayer. Peace on Earth." Every year on Obon Day, which is a holiday in Japan to remember the departed spirits of one's ancestors, thousands of people leave paper cranes near the statue. A paper crane database has been established online for contributors to leave a message of peace and to keep a record of those who have donated cranes.

تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و پنجم ماه دسامبر سال1984میلادی

عنوان: ساداکو و هزار درنای کاغذی؛ نویسنده: الینور (النور) کوئر؛ مترجم: مریم پیشگاه؛ تهران، کانون پرورش فکری کودکان و نوجوانان، تهران، سال1359، در58ص؛ چاپ دیگر سال1362؛ چاپ هشتم سال1374؛ چاپ نهم سال1377؛ چاپ دهم سال1381؛ شابک9644321626؛ چاپ جهاردهم سال1398؛ در56ص؛موضوع داستانهای واقعی ژاپن از نویسندگان کانادایی تبار ایالات متحده امریکا - سده20م

النور کوئر نویسنده این کتاب، در «کامساک، ساسکاچوان، کانادا» به دنیا آمدند؛ و در «ساسکاتون» بزرگوار شدند؛ دو سرگرمی مورد علاقه کودکی او خواندن و ساختن داستان بود؛ «النور» زندگی حرفه ای خود را، به عنوان خبرنگار روزنامه و سردبیر ستونی برای کودکان آغاز کردند؛ خوشبختانه، ایشان در سال1949میلادی به عنوان نویسنده «مجله اتاوا» به «ژاپن» سفر کردند، زیرا هیچ یک از کارکنان دیگر نمیخواستند به کشوری بروند که در اثر جنگ ویران شده بود؛

داستانی واقعی از دختری به نام «ساداکو ساساکی» است؛ که هنگام بمباران اتمی «هیروشیما»، در آن شهر می‌زیسته؛ «ساداکو» به دلیل تشعشعات، سرطان خون گرفتند، و در دوران حیاتشان در یک آسایشگاه، بنا بر یک باور، برای بهبود خود، اریگامی درناهای کاغذی را، به تعداد هزار عدد درست می‌کردند؛ این کتاب به زبانهای بسیاری ترجمه شده، و جزو برنامه‌ های صلح، برای دانش آموزان شده است؛

تاریخ بهنگام رسانی 26/01/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ 10/12/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی

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 book posits that her wish was to stay alive, perhaps the author thought that to have her reach her goal and still die would be too sad. Or perhaps the author recognized that, without the dream of that wish, there would be no real story to tell.

I find this disappointing, as the author could have said something more meaningful if Sadako had finished them, but still died: that no one can stand against their own death, but even as we face our own, we may fight for something greater, we may try to fight against a world of senseless death.

Are we afraid to tell our children it is a fight we can never win? Does that make it less worth fighting? Wouldn't it be better for them to learn that now, from someone they trust, rather than to discover it later, when they are already in the middle of the confusions of life? What could be more disheartening than suddenly having that dream snatched away?

It is a difficult question: how to breach, for our children, the concepts of death, of war, of hope, and of the inescapable. When we scale it down, to one person, to one pain, that is when we feel it the most. But when we do this, we miss out on all that surrounds it. By concentrating on one person, you can turn a mutual war into a directed crime, and there lies the danger.

It is not uplifting to see a little girl die slowly, of something she cannot understand, to have her promise of a life revoked, but this is not all there is to the matter. As human beings, it is easy for us to look at the suffering of a few, especially a spectacular suffering: nuclear weapons, the Holocaust, 9/11, and feel enraged.

And it should upset us. War is unequal, unfair, and makes a mockery of beauty, art, and humanity. But it is always too easy for us to forget the other side.

So many people react to this book with sorrow for the little girl, with a sense that the nuclear weapons were a tragedy, unnecessary, and inhumane. But that is simply ignoring the larger story.

Where are the books about all the children the Japanese soldiers killed? Even without nuclear weapons, the Japanese practiced total war, which meant hundreds of thousands of civilians dying every month. They slaughtered children, they took slaves and worked them to death in mines.

They used biological weapons on Chinese citizens and killed others in nightmarish testing facilities where Japanese scientists observed the effects of poisons, chemicals, and disease on their hapless test subjects.

They started the war because they were nationalists and wanted to expand, to destroy their neighbors, and to conquer the world. They refused to accept that losing was an option, and were willing to die to win.

If the Allies attacked Japan itself, the Japanese planned to recruit every man, woman, and child during the final invasion, to blow up American tanks with bombs strapped to fifteen year-old boys. Even after the first atomic bomb was dropped, the Japanese command—including the Emporor—rallied to continue the war, even passing off the bombing itself as an industrial accident.

It is important to recognize the suffering of others, but it seems we too often concentrate on the suffering of one person over another. It is easier for us to concentrate this way, to see something spectacular and terrifying like the 2,752 deaths of 9/11, and ignore the 1,311,969 Iraqis dead since. Or look at the death of Jews in the Holocaust and ignore the Poles, Romany, Atheists, and hom*osexuals who died alongside them

I sometimes fear that by hiding from children how commonplace death really is, we do not allow them to think about death except for isolated, melodramatic stories. If we cannot learn confront death except when it spectacular, then we will never really try to stop it, because we will only focus on the rare cases, and fail to notice that death is no less final from untreated disease as from a gun.

Perhaps I am silly to expect more of children's books than I do of adult books, but then, I've found I can expect more from children than from adults. I am of the opinion that the best way to prevent children and adolescents from having early pregnancies is by giving them all the difficult, unpleasant details. I think the same goes for war. This doesn't mean showing them footage of either act, but an open, honest sit-down beats dramatized, nationalistic propaganda any day of the week.

«کاش می توانستم به مرگ نیندیشم»
اما این کار درست مثل باز داشتن باران از باریدن بود

این کتاب داستانِ زندگی کوتاه "ساداکو ساساکی" دختر ژاپنی است که آرزو داشت روزی دونده بزرگی شود: ساداکو از ابتدا یک دونده به دنیا آمده بود. مادرش می گفت او پیش از اینکه راه رفتن را یاد بگیرد، دویدن آموخت

دختری که در دو سالگی اش بمب هسته ای بر شهرش یعنی هیروشیما انداخته شده بود و با اینکه هیچ زخمی برنداشته بود
در 11 سالگی به بیماری سرطان خون مبتلا شد

با وجودی که بمب اتمی نُه سال قبل برروی شهر هیروشیما انداخته شده بود، هنوز هم بسیاری از مردم بر اثر این بیماری جان می سپردند
فضا پر از تشعشات اتمی شده بود که نوعی سم است. تا مدتها خون مردم بر اثر این سم مسموم بود

و ساداکو در بیمارستان به رویای ساختن هزار درنای کاغذی پناه برد تا شاید با این افسانه قدیمی ژاپنی از این بیماری مهلک شفا یابد
..دستانش آنقدر نیرو داشت که توانست فقط 644 درنا بسازد

امروزه به یادبود ساداکو، درناهای کاغذی نماد صلح شده اند
..ولی هنوز ساداکوها جان می دهند

"And he prayed that his family would be protected from the atom bomb disease called leukemia."

History learning has many angles, and more often than not, we tend to focus on the big, "exciting" events of wartime action, while forgetting to highlight the consequences of those actions.

In times when leaders in the world seem to have forgotten the impact of the atom bombs in Japan, and seem to think that it is an actual "solution" to a pathetic macho contest, we need to step away from just giving students the statistical details of the war. We need to show them what it really means to a society to be hit by a (comparatively small) atom bomb.

I recommend this short novel to initiate a reflective discussion on the effect of careless politics on the lives of innocent children - not just immediately during the war itself, but long after "peace" has been re-established. The target age is younger Middle School, but it is well worth reading with other age groups as well.

The story line is simple and straight forward, and based on a true event. A young girl, born in 1943 in Hiroshima, athletic, happy, full of plans for the future, suddenly falls ill with leukemia at age 11 and dies of the disease as a long-term effect of the atom bomb dropped on her city when she was 2 years old. She has a strong will to live, and starts folding paper cranes, as an old Japanese myth says she will be granted life if she is able to make 1,000 of them. Obviously, the myth has no power against the reality of the nuclear age, and she stands as a symbol for the many victims of the most brutal of human inventions.

I strongly recommend this as required reading for the next generation, which will hopefully be more capable of empathy and imagination than the ruling patriarchy we see in power in states with nuclear weapons today.

There is no excuse whatsoever for using nuclear weapons against any people. We need to get back to teaching the consequences of reckless, impulsive behaviour along with universal human rights and protection of the weak. The world is not a stage where vulgar power hungry egomaniacs should be given the right to act out their narcissism unchecked. The world is not their property, given to them to play with. Complacency in this case is complicity.

We have to think of our children!

This is a fictionalized account of a real-life girl in post-WWII Japan, who begins to suffer the aftereffects of radiation poisoning from the bomb that hit Hiroshima at the end of the war. Her quest to fold a thousand origami cranes begins with the gift of one gold paper crane.

Sadako Sasaki is an energetic 12 year old Japanese girl, who was just a toddler in 1945 when her town of Hiroshima was hit by the atomic bomb. Now it’s 1955, and Sadako is starting to have dizzy spells. Diagnosed with leukemia, a long-term after-effect of radiation poisoning, Sadako pins her hope on the legend that if a sick person folds one thousand origami cranes, the gods will grant her wish to be healthy again. Sadako sets to work, diligently folding hundreds of paper cranes, but she’s getting weaker and weaker.

It's a tearjerker of a story, bolstered by an anti-war message. Seriously, I needed several tissues for the last half of the book. Unfortunately the story is fictionalized in some key respects- most significantly, the story says that Sadako dies before she completed her goal, and that her schoolmates finished up for her; Sadako’s brother has stated that she actually folded about 1400 cranes before she died. The book and its message are simple and straightforward. Whether or not you think the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki was necessary to end WWII, it’s a powerful reminder of the cost of war and its innocent victims.

The Hiroshima Peace Memorial, topped with a statue of Sadako and a crane.

This book was a Christmas gift from a friend who’s a teacher. Thanks, Janet!["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>["br"]>

*/حاوی اسپویل/*
دوست دارید در کمترین زمان ممکن دچار غمباد و بغض بشید؟ این کتاب مناسب شماست! ساداکو ۲ ساله بود که بمب اتم هیروشیما، محل زندگیش رو زیر و رو کرد. با اینکه خردسال بود اما همیشه می‌گفت دقیق به خاطر داره که چطوری بمب افتاد انگار که خورشید به زمین افتاده بود. ساداکو خیلی سریع می‌دوید مثل باد، همه می‌دونستند که ساداکو یه روزی دونده‌ی بزرگی میشه اما دست تقدیر برنامه‌ی دیگه‌ای برای ساداکو تدارک دیده بود. ۹ سال بعد از افتادن بمب اتم هنوز افراد زیادی به خاطر تنفس هوای آلوده مریض میشدند از جمله ساداکو که سرطان خون گرفت و به خاطر حرف دوست صمیمی‌ش که گفته بود طبق یک افسانه قدیمی اگه هزار درنای کاغذی درست کنی از بیماری نجات پیدا می‌کنی، شروع کرد به ساخت درناهای کاغذی اما ضعف بدنی اجازه‌ی ساخت هزار درنا رو نداد. در نهایت ساداکو چشمانش رو بست و دیگه باز نکرد. یک مجسمه از ساداکو در پارک صلح هیروشیما برای بزرگداشت ساداکو و تمام کودکان مثل اون ساخته شد.ه

Review to come. My phone is currently broken and I can't access Audible or Kindle at the moment so I went with my unread paper backs. I'll be back currently soon my friends <3

This is a beautiful and absolutely devastating book that everyone must read - it'll take you less than an hour.

هیروشیما

مردی که مرگ را بر فراز هیروشیما رها کرد
به کلیسا رفت و ناقوس‌ها را به صدا درآورد
مردی که م��گ را بر فراز هیروشیما رها کرد
رفت و خود را حلق آویز کرد
مردی که مرگ را بر فراز هیروشیما رها کرد
دیوانه شد
اکنون اشباح را از پیرامون خود دور می کند
اما این‌ها واقعیت ندارد
من او را چندی پیش در باغچه خانه اش
که در حومه شهر است دیدم
نشسته بود و روزنامه می خواند

ماری لوئیزه کوشنیتس / برگردان تورج رهنما

هزاردرنا، زندگی‌نامه تراژیک ساداکو ساسکی، دختر ژاپنی دوازده ساله ای است که 10 سال بعد از بمباران اتمی هیروشیما به سرطان خون مبتلا شد و پس از چندی مبارزه با بیماری درگذشت. ساداکو پس از بستری شدن در بیمارستان، همزمان با تحلیل قوای جسمانی اش، تصمیم به ساخت هزار درنای کاغذی می گیرد. بر طبق یک افسانه خاور باستان، با ساختن و رها کردن هزار درنای کاغذی یک آرزو برآورده می شود. با وجود اینکه مرگ هرگز به ساداکو اجازه ی ساخت هزار درنا را نمی دهد، اما آرزوی او برآورده می شود. او به جاودانگی می رسد
داستان یک روایت چند لایه است، با در نظر گرفتن این موضوع می توان از ابعاد گوناگونی به بررسی اثر پرداخت. واضح است که هزار درنا در وهله نخست اعتراضی علیه خشونت جنگ و تاثیر آن بر آسیب پذیر ترین قشر جامعه یعنی کودکان است، قربانیان همیشگی. از این‌رو کتاب را می توان یک اثر در خدمت صلح جهانی‌ دانست.کاربرد دوم کتاب، آماده سازی کودک در مواجهه با مرگ است. در واقع محور اصلی داستان مرگ، روبر شدن با نیستی و پذیرش مرگ است. قصه درمانی / بازی درمانی و استفاده از اسطوره و آیین راهکارهای مبارزه با مرگ در افراد، به ویژه کودکان است که در این کتاب با تمام شان روبرو می شویم. طبق نظر کوبلر راس انسان در مواجهه با مرگ قریب الوقوع خود، به مکانیسم های دفاعی روی می آورد. 5 مکانیسم دفاعی در مقابل مرگ وجود دارد: انکار، خشم، چانه زدن(سندرم امید واهی) افسردگی و نهایتا پذیرش. در مرحله پذیرش فرد دچار مرگ روانی می شود. مرگ روانی زمانی رخ می دهد که شخص نسبت به مرگ قطعی خود اگاه شده، آن را پذیرفته و در نتیجه به ژرفای وجود خویش بازمی گردد. ساداکو در طی روایت خطی داستان به ترتیب تمام مکانیسم ها را به کار می گیرد تا سرانجام به مرگ روانی و جسمی می رسد
تحلیلی جامع از این داستان بر مبنای نظریه کوبلر راس را می توانید در این مقاله بخوانید: کودک، داستان و مواجهه با مرگ

Sadako is a young girl about to go into Middle Grade, and she is very excited about it. The greatest part about it is, that she will be on the track team, her favorite sport. Together with her bother and parents, the family lives a traditional life. It’s a few years after Hiroshima, and many of their friends and family have died from illness related to radiation. Sadako was two years old when Hiroshima happened and every year, the family goes into the community to celebrate life and gratefulness.

Everyone knows the sickness…..the disease that many fall ill with and die. It’s whispered, it’s feared, it’s all around. Leukemia. Sadako isn’t feeling well at one of her training sessions, and they seek medical attention. The families worst fear comes true. Sadako has cancer.

In the hospital, Sadako tries to keep hope and is eager to leave. Counting the days, to get out of there. She begins to fold paper cranes via origami. She has the wish to be healed after she makes 1000 cranes.

Counting into the hundreds, she gives them away, hangs them, sets them on ledges….but her health keeps declining.

At last, with just a few cranes left to go, her mother makes her a most special gift, a kimono. She has always wanted one, but they could not afford it. Her families sacrifices to purchase the fabric for this gift of love is almost too much to bear for Sadako.

With a few cranes short of 1000, Sadako passes away. Her community comes together and children all around begin making paper cranes.

***

The spirit of community and the love of a family stand out in this novel. Sadako is only one of the victims of Hiroshima and the aftermath. This story is based on the true story of Sadako’s life and there is a memorial set up today. See below.

This novel isn’t long and can easily be read in a sitting even as a sufficient young reader. It is a gentle servant into the subject matter/topic considering any angst a child might have about it.

Hiroshima and it’s people the effects as well as Leukemia in itself is tough to read about and understand when young. This version of the story does not discount or mask the truth, but it is written in a way, that it stays neutral enough to approach/ introduce the subject or expose young readers to illnesses that sometimes cannot be healed. The focus here is hope and love. A gentle way to take the next step to further research, remember and perhaps inspire.

Pics and links on events on my blog.

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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:

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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.

This is set in Japan after the bombing of Hiroshima. We meet this athletic girl who loves to run who slowly can't run. She starts feeling pain and tiredness. It's discovered that she has leukemia and that was an after effect of the bomb and many people, including children 10 years after were experiencing.

Sadako hears the story of the child who makes a 1,000 paper cranes will have a wish come true. She decides to make 1000 cranes to heal herself.

This story doesn't have a happy ending. It's a good little story for young readers and it explores a period in history we don't hear too much about. The epilogue is nice and there is a statue to this girl in Japan that people leave thousands of cranes for.

ছোট্ট হাসিখুশি মেয়ে সাদাকো ভালো দৌড়াতে পারতো। হঠাৎ সে অসুস্থ হয়ে গেলো। হিরোশিমা আর নাগাসাকিতে পারমাণবিক বিস্ফোরণ এর পার্শ্বপ্রতিক্রিয়ায় তার শরীরে বাসা বাঁধে মরণব্যাধি লিউকেমিয়া। সাদাকো শুনলো, এক হাজার কাগজের সারসপাখি বানাতে পারলে নাকি মনের ইচ্ছা পূর্ণ হয়। সে বানাতে শুরু করলো কাগজের সারস। যুদ্ধবিধবস্ত জাপানে কাগজ পাওয়াও দুষ্কর। সাহায্যের হাত বাড়িয়ে দিলো বন্ধুবান্ধব আর আত্মীয়স্বজন। কিন্তু ছয়শো চুয়াল্লিশটা সারস বানানোর পরই মারা যায় সাদাকো। সাদাকোর স্মরণে হিরোশিমা পিস পার্কে ১৯৫৮ সালে বানানো হয় তার আবক্ষমূর্তি। এর নিচে লেখা " this is our cry, this is our prayer. peace on earth." প্রতিবছর জাপানের মানুষ সাদাকোকে স্মরণ করে কাগজের সারস বানিয়ে। আর প্রার্থনা করে, সাদাকোর মতো আর কোনো শিশু যেন যুদ্ধের এমন নির্মম বলি না হয়। আর কোনো ফুল যেন অকালে ঝরে না পড়ে।

این کتاب رو که اینجا پیدا کردم انگار یه گنج قدیمی پیدا کرده باشم انقدر که هیجانزده‌ام
شاید ۸ یا ۹ ساله بودم که این کتاب رو خوندم. اون موقع‌ها پدرم از یک دست‌دوم فروشی کتاب رو برام خریده بود و من عاشقش بودم.
تا آخرین درنایی که ساداکو ساخت من امیدوار بودم زنده بمونه و از اون به بعد بود که باورم شد بچه‌ها هم می‌میرند.

This is an amazing book, one that will stay with me as an all time favourite at school. When you can remember reading it as a youngster and when that can evoke further memories, that means it's made a true impact.

We did a play of this when I was in primary school and I remember even back then feeling a lot of sadness over it. Also a lot of frustration that I never mastered the art of folding paper cranes.

A good insight for kids.

My Grade 3 students enjoy this read-aloud as they are enlightened by historical events they may never hear about.

✰ 4 stars ✰

“But how can that paper bird make me well?”

“Don’t you remember that old story about the crane?” Chizuko asked. “It’s supposed to live for a thousand years. If a sick person folds one thousand paper cranes, the gods will grant her wish and make her healthy again.”

She handed the crane to Sadako. “Here’s your first one.”

3rd Grade Treasures

1996-1997. 3rd Grade. The year the Trapper Keeper was all the rage. (Google it - it was such a nifty stationary item! 📁) The year I learned spin art in Ms. Stella's art class and had two entries in our elementary art fair. (I still have them - they were quite good, I must say. 🎨) The year Fruit Roll-up and Dunkaroos were my staple recess snacks. (I wonder if they're still around... 🤔) And it was the year, I read Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes for our class reading assignment.

Sadako was in Hiroshima when the United States Air Force dropped an atom bomb on that city in an attempt to end World War II; ten years later she died as a result of radiation from the bomb. In the early 1960's, Eleanor Coerr traveled to Hiroshima in the hopes of finding Kokeshi - a collection of Sadako’s letters and her journal that her bamboo class published into a book, naming it after the doll that they had gifted her while she was in the hospital. Through fortuitous circ*mstances, Ms.Coerr stumbled upon the original and quickly rushed home to Canada to translate it, so she could write the children's story of Sadako's life that has touched so many lives since it's release in the last 70's.

Some books can hit you right in the chest with hard-hitting feels - some books leave a quiet mark on your heart. Sadako's story is neither loud or soft - it is simply true. True in the truest form that you can stay hopeful and optimistic - no matter what. Even as it gives readers a way to accept death and sadness - it is done with kindness that touches upon your heart. 💔💔 Sadako showed a quiet resilience and courageous spirit of such will and longing that if not making paper cranes to bring good luck to herself, but simply to ease the pain that she was causing her family. It reminded me of times when I too would be hurting from an injury, and I would shield my own tears and fight through the pain - just so, my family would not be hurt by visible pain. 😢

“Don’t cry,” she begged. “Please don’t cry.”

Sadako wanted to say more, but her mouth and tongue wouldn’t move. A tear slid down her cheek. She had brought her mother so much grief.

And all Sadako could do now was make paper cranes and hope for a miracle.”

The beauty of this story is that there is no direct malice or resentment towards the horrific event that took place in 1945 - it is simply a gentle but firm reminder of what it left behind in it's tragic wake - how far-reaching it was - whether you were there or still in the womb - it left it's impression. ❤️‍🩹❤️‍🩹 And how important it is that fighting is never a solution that solves everything - that a little peace and kindness can make a much more beneficial solution than the course of actions they take instead.

“After visiting hours it was lonely in the hospital room. So lonely that Sadako folded more cranes to keep up her courage.

Eleven ... I wish I’d get better.

Twelve ... I wish I’d get better ...”

Ms. Coerr's heart-felt writing makes you feel Sadako's hopes and her pains -the sadness for making her family hurt, the gentle joys in her last few days. Poignant and pure, through her eyes we feel her dreams - how she wanted to live life long and strong - being the fastest runner in her class, only to become as slow as a turtle, who can't even lift her arms long enough. Yet, those tender and hopeful feelings of courage - even in the face of death - transcend beyond the page, because it does not only relate to moments of illness; even in her vulnerable state, she never loses faith. It can even give hope to those who have lost the will to survive and need a reason for living - a feeling worth fighting for. 🤍🤍

The joy of children's books is that it makes such an impact - even in the simplest of ways. Sadako's thoughts and prayers and loneliness echoed a gnawing pain in my heart - that she wasn't able to complete her paper cranes - is that a sign that if you don't - the dream that you have - the wish that you make - does it not come true?

No.

Because the memory of her lives on - like a seed it spread to so many parts of the world - to even a little girl like me, living in Pakistan - I learned of her story. And that is why stories are told - so that they can live on forever - 'in the hearts of people for a long time.' 🙏🏻🙏🏻

I don't quite recall how I felt back when I first read it; although, I do remember faintly that we learned how to make paper cranes of our own as a class activity afterwards. Mine weren't very good, I'm afraid. But, there is one memory that stands out in my mind. When I was in the 5th grade, after studying World War II in social studies, our class was going to watch the film Hiroshima. One of our foreign students was from Japan; he approached our class teacher and very politely requested that he be excused from watching it.

And as the film was loaded into the VCR, I recall so very clearly, looking out our class window, as he walked down the hall to the ESL (English as a Second Language) class - with a tight feeling in my chest - not quite knowing what I should say to him. And it was at the same moment, my mind drifted back to a book that I once read - the story of the little girl and her hopeful wish for life, by believing in the dream of a thousand paper cranes. 😔😔

خیلی خیلی خوب و البته غم انگیز بود...!:):
یه دوست خیلی خوبی داد بم بخونمش.....!

نمی‌دونم اولین بار داستان درناهای کاغذی رو کی شنیدم ولی از بچگی دوست داشتم هزارتا درنای کاغذی درست کنم. امروز دارم این کار رو می‌کنم. تا الان حدود صدتا درنا درست کردم و توی خونه و شهرم پخششون کردم.
یه روز به خودم اومدم و دیدم یکی از رویاهای بچگی داره خاک می‌خوره. هزینه‌ای نداشت، از کاغذ باطله، درنای کاغذی درست کردم. خیلی آسون بود. دوستشون داشتم و دارم.
حالا درناها رو توی شهر، روی درخت‌ها و کنار خونه‌ها می‌ذارم. چیزی که الان کم داریم هزارتا درنای کاغذیه؛ امیده!
امیدوارم برعکس ساداکو، بتونم هزارتا درست کنم... برای خودم... برای وطنم؛ ایران.
کتاب رو از طاقچه گرفتم چون نسخه‌ی فیزیکیش رو پیدا نکردم. پیشنهاد می‌کنم نسخه‌ی چاپیش رو بخونید:)

ای درناهای بهشتی
با بالهای قشنگ خود
روی کودکم ��ا بپوشانید
***
داستان زیبا و غم انگیزی بود

We'll never know exactly how far our actions fly into the future.

There's probably nothing Sadako loves more then running around Hiroshima. Then the dizzy spells start. She doesn't understand why until she receives a life changing diagnosis. Soon, Sadako is running once again. But can she win the race against time?

A story of luck, legends, and letters. A tale of omens, and origami.

**********POTENTIAL SPOILERY TRIGGER WARININGS for illness of a child, talk of war, mention of loss of a loved one, leukemia, grief, and mention of death.**********

Active, eager Sadako was excited to be alive. Be it Oban Day or becoming her class's running superstar, there was so much the optimistic girl was looking forward to. It was impossible not to feel everything she felt, no matter where the path of her race took her. Her bravery and courage were so inspiring.

Family is a forever flock. Seriously sweet, you watch Sadako's family and community react to her diagnosis, and see their determination to remain sources of everlasting strength and comfort. Admiration and love flowed between Sadako and all of the important people in her life. But the moments between Sadako and her mother had me in tears.

Over 14 years later, and I can still remember the first time Sadako's tale was read to me. The reasons behind the intense feelings it evoked are no longer lost on me. Straightforwardly complex as one of its titular birds, Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes is exactly the story it seems, yet within it's folded creases lie shouted whispers of WWII, fears, long ago stolen dreams, and hope in the face of great sadness. Perhaps loudest though, is its out cry for peace.

Despite the fact that Eleanor Coerr's prose was purely tell and no show, Sadako practically runs out of the book and into your heart. Incredibly sad, the quick historical fiction introduced the readers to a truly strong spirit, a well known Japanese legend, and the devastatingly long-lasting effects of nuclear warfare. Accompanied by black and white illustrations, the story of a bright soul dimmed far to soon, moved me. I am however perplexed as to why certain parts of the plot didn't remain faithful to her life. Reading this makes you wish a better future for the world.

I hope that one day all your whispered wishes take wing.

کاش کتاب طولانی‌تر بود...با پرداختن‌های بیشتر... مشتاق خوندن یک روایت کامل‌تر از درناهای کاغذی ساداکو هستم.

گمان من اینه هر بچه‌ای که پا به جهان هستی می‌ذاره حامل این پیامه که خدا هنوز از بشریت قطع امید نکرده...وای به حال آدم بزرگ‌هایی که امیدهای خدا رو به کشتن می‌دن...
چند فوج درنا باید بسازیم که پیام صلح برای بچه‌ها برآورده بشه؟!....
راستی! محسن رحمانی تو پادکست رادیو پن، خیلی زیباتر از هرچیزی که درباره‌ی ساداکو و هزار درنای کاغذی اون خونده بودم گفته.... اگه ساداکو رو دوست دارید حتما اپیزود " صلح" رادیو پن رو گوش بدید🤍

پی‌نوشت: یکی از روزهای بعد از این....وقتی حالمون اونقدر خوب شده بود که بتونم واژه‌ها رو ردیف کنم کنار هم، از ساداکوهای سرزمین مادری می‌نویسم....

بخش‌هایی از کتاب:

کبوتر‌ها مثل ارواح مردگان به نظر می‌آیند که در فراز آسمان به آزادی در پروازند.

درد بزرگ دیگری در درون ساداکو ریشه می‌دوانید؛ درد ترس از مرگ؛ اما ساداکو باید با این درد هم مقابله می‌کرد، هم‌چنان هم که تا به آن دم، در برابر بیماری‌اش ایستادگی کرده بود. به یادش آمد که همیشه جای امید هست.

با خودش فکر می‌کرد، آیا بعد از مرگ روی یکی از کوه‌های بهشت زندگی خواهم کرد؟ آیا مردن سخت است؟ یا شبیه به خواب رفتن است؟
او با خودش می‌گفت، کاش می‌توانستم به مرگ نیندیشم.
اما این کار درست مثل بازداشتن باران از باریدن بود.

این است فریاد ما،
این است آرزوی ما،
صلح در تمام دنیا.

با اینکه شور زندگی و امیدی که ساداکو توی قلبش داشت رو خیلی تحسین میکنم و واقعا داستان قشنگی بود برام ولی خیلی غمگین کننده بود و چندجای کتاب گونه هام خیس شدن و گریه کردم برای امیدهایی که ناامید میشن…🥲

وقتی من سال اول راهنمایی بودم، برادرم -که خودش سال اخر راهنمایی بود- این کتاب رو از معلم انشاءش هدیه گرفت. نمیدونم چرا این کتاب رو خوندیم و اصلا چرا کانون پرورش فکری، چنین کتابی با این چنین داستان غم انگیزی رو منتشر کرده. البته که اون موقع، کتاب آزاردهنده نبود. اما وقتی دو سال پیش دوباره خوندمش، فهمیدم چه حجم بزرگی از غصه رو میشه باهاش لمس کرد.
ساداکو، برگرفته از زندگی واقعی ساداکو ساساکی، دختری ژاپنیه که طی جنگ جهانی دوم و حمله اتمی ارتش ایالات متحده به هیروشیما، زنده می مونه، اما بعدا به خاطر تشعشعات رادیواکتیوی که در معرضشون قرار گرفته بوده، به سرطان مبتلا میشه و نویسنده، دوران بستری شدن و چگونگی تلاش ساداکو و اطرافیانش رو برای مبارزه با بیماری و زنده نگه داشتن این دختر روایت میکنه.
کتاب کوتاهه و خب اگر گوگل کنید اسم ساداکو رو، همون چندثانیه اول متوجه میشید که ساداکو نهایتا به دلیل سرطان خون از دنیا رفته.
اما خوانندۀ کتاب، ابتدا این رو نمیدونه و رفته رفته متوجه میشیم که زنده موندن ساداکو، تقریبا محاله. ولی بازم یه عده هستن که میخوان ساداکو رو برای مدت بیشتری با ابزار امید و شادی و اینجور اراجیف زنده نگه دارن.
از جملۀ ابزارها هم، همین قضیۀ هزار درنای کاغذیه.
یه افسانه دارن که میگه اگر یک نفر هزارتا پرندۀ درنا رو با کاغذ و هنر اریگامی درست کنه، به ارزوش میرسه. و چه چیزی بهتر و سرگرم کننده تر و امیدوار نگه دارنده تر از هزارتا اوریگامی وقت گیر، برای دختری که احتمال برآورده شدن آرزوش نزدیک به صفره؟
ساداکو شروع میکنه به درست کردن درناهای کاغذی. اما فقط گمونم 600 یا 650 تا درنا رو درست میکنه و نهایتا در 12 سالگی، از دنیا میره.
دوستان ساداکو، بهش کمک میکنن و براش درنا میسازن و تعداد درنا ها رو بالاخره به هزار میرسونن. اما ساداکو آرزوش هیچوقت برآورده نمیشه.
به همین دردناکی. کتاب در ستایش چیه؟ امید و تلاش؟ پس مجسمه آزادی و آتش برخاسته از سیاست های خبیثانۀ آمریکای جهانخوار روی جلد چه میکنه؟! این برمیگرده به ایدئولوژی متولیان فرهنگ ایران در دهه های اول و دوم انقلاب اسلامی. آشنا کردن کودکان با خباثت امریکا از طریق تعریف کردن داستان های واقعی ولی بسیار دردناک.
مادرم میگه وقتی نوجوون بوده، موقع جنگ ویتنام و آمریکا، تلویزیون کشور دائما تصاویر خشن و ترسناکی از جنگ رو نمایش میداده. چیزی شبیه به بدن تیکه تیکه شدۀ بچه های یمن و فلسطین. ساداکو و اخبار امروز هم ادامۀ تصاویر جنگ امریکا و ویتنام ان.

القصه! افسانه درنای کاغذی، دیگه ربطی به تاریخ کهن ژاپن نداره و گره خورده به زندگی تلخ یک دختربچۀ دوساله که 10 تلاش میکنه برای زنده موندن و نهایتا میمیره. حالا ماییم و افسانه ای که امتحان شد و جواب نداد.

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 cranes god can give her another chance and cure her. Sadako made one thousand paper cranes all the time she had to spare.But after all that she had suffered she had died. Now if you go to Japan you can find a statue of Sadako at the Hiroshima Peace Park if you don't believe me then read the book and the end of the book you will find a paragraph that clearly states that Eleanor Coerr had seen it herself. I hope you will read the book and love it as much as I do.

I read this book a long time ago as a kid, it was lovely and bittersweet.

تو نیم ساعت غمباد گرفتم🥺

Kitabı hiç bilmiyordum. Ta ki Kayra’nın bana tavsiye ettiği güne kadar...
Kayra bana tavsiye ettiğinde bile kitabı görmemiştim ama insanların yorumları ilgimi çekti ve daha kitabı görmeden almaya karar vardim ve zaten iki günde de bitirdim. Kitap Amerika’nın Hiroşma’ya atılan bombadan ölen ve yıllar sonra radyasyondan ölen insanları anlatıyor. Sadako’da bunlardan biriydi hatta 3 yaşındaydı. Okurken kaç tane böyle çocuk olabileceğini düşünüp çok hüzünlendim. Büyük kitabımı yoksa küçük kitabı mı bilememiştim ama sanırım hem büyüklerin hem de küçüklerin örnek alması gereken bir kitaptı.
Herkese tavsiye ederim. Sevgiler: ADA SEVEN🎌👌🏻🎌👌🏻🎌👌🏻🎌👌🏻

This is a book I read as a child and I spent the last couple of months trying to remember the title and finding the book to buy on eBay.
It was a short but touching story. One I think all kids should read.