Dim's Write Stuff

I’m a well-known advocate for the ability of picture books to relay messages of the heart, heavy and often indescribably unbearable ones, like grief. Mizuto and the Wind is such an example, a worthy conduit of emotion that is indescribably, beautiful. Because beneath the mantle of poignant suffering, there is a persistent uplifting whisper of hope. Gifted wordsmith, Kaye Baillie drew inspiration for this stirring story after learning about a real-life Kaze no Denwa – Wind Phone – erected by Itaru Sasaki as a place of respite and recovery. Following the Great East Japan earthquake and subsequent horrific tsunami in 2011, Sasaki made his Wind Phone accessible to anyone who might benefit from visiting. Tragedy often has the most benign and banal beginnings, which describes the morning Mizuto’s father farewelled him, leaving for work, never to return. Following the catastrophic destruction of the seaside township of Otsúchi, Mizuto and his mother are themselves swept up into an ocean