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Peacebound Trains in Review...
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"Powerful narrative." - The New York Times Book Review
"Deeply moving story..." - American Booksellers Association
"This saga stands as a testament to the costs of war and to the
deepest ties of devotion." - Smithsonian Magazine
"Peacebound Trains presents in careful, vivid prose a
detailed account of a family torn apart by war... Beautiful,
exacting watercolors by Chris K. Soentpiet provide a fitting
accompaniment to this moving and inspiring tale."
- San
Francisco Chronicle
"The text, divided into short chapters, is gracefully written and told with
great emotion. The richly colored illustrations are splashed with
light, and convey the unfolding drama. Readers will come
away from this book with the understanding that the struggle
for peace is universal and timeless, and that sometimes
sacrifices must be made to achieve it."
- School Library Journal
"... a compelling story. Soentpiet is equally at home
painting portraits, of vital people, their emotions showing beneath
their understated expressions, or conveying a larger picture
like the river of refugees atop a string of boxcars. And he
does so with realistic detail. The train is a powerful image,
and the various layered meanings for this grandmother and granddaughter,
and of course the absent mother, create a potent unifying theme."
- Children's Book Review Magazine
"A serious, even sorrowful book - but an important one - is
Peacebound Trains... I predict [the book] will be seen
in classrooms everywhere this year."
- Jane Kurtz, The Book
Connection
"A lovely... poignant, accessible story, useful not only for
those wishing to explore their Korean roots, but for readers
aware of or curious about the dislocations of war."
- Kirkus
Reviews
"A great book for young and old for it tells of the suffering of losing everything you have,
including loved ones. The story and illustrations are beyond my ability to describe in words.
The illustrations will take
you back in time to a place you remembered 50 years ago. This is a must book for all veterans
of that war to teach our grandchildren why we feel our efforts to keep South Korea free was worth all costs.
A great 'Tell America' tool." - Vincent Krepps - Editor, The Graybeards (Official Publication of the
Korean War Veterans Association)
"Balgassi's writing defines poetry without even a
slip of storytelling thread... Soentpiet's art may be
the best featured in any children's book of the year."
- Cynthia Leitich Smith, Visitation
"... lyrical prose, with Korean terms sprinkled in naturally...
Graphically, both from the emotive
words and from the delicate but most
detailed and tenderly realistic paintings, we see the misery and
hardship of a people uprooted by war...
this picture book, each page a masterpiece of art, packs an
emotional wallop even for those whose families have never been
cruelly separated by wars." - Ginny Lee, MultiCultural Review
"... profoundly moving and beautifully illustrated
picture storybook... Structured as a story within a story, the
book carries with it a sense of history, the terror and loss
of war, and the hope that causes the most damaged humans
to live for the future. This book is a triumph!" - Toni Buzzeo,
Librarian/Media Specialist, Longfellow School, Portland, Maine
"... a moving and well-told tale of the triumph of the human spirit
over life's hardships." - Carolyn Mott Ford, Children's Literature
"... exciting fare for readers... Soentpiet's portraiture, which fills nearly every double
spread, masterfully captures the young Korean family in the
best and worst of times." - The Bulletin of the Center For
Children's Books
"A historical period little known to American children
is made real in this story within a story inspired by the
experience of Balgassi's own grandmother... The characters
are wonderfully individualized... and the telling is graceful
and poignant." - Booklist
"Soentpiet's marvelous watercolors grace each page, expanding the contemporary
and historical scenes and specifying cultural details.
This compelling fictional account is divided into eight short sections." -
CCBC Choices 1996
"I think Peacebound Trains is a very good book.
I liked the way it was written, and the pictures made me
feel like I was really there. I learned some Korean history, and
it helped me understand why my grandfather was in the war
there." - Diana Cahill, Second Grader, Kids Corner,
Albuquerque Journal
"In Peacebound Trains, love, hope, and family win out
over tragedy. Its first-person narrative and touching illustrations
are an appropriate, if sobering, means of showing grade-school
age children a slice of Korean and world history. I
join Diana in recommending this book to children who wish to
learn about Korean culture and about how both personal and
global events can shape a child's life." - Beth Cahill
(Diana's mom), Albuquerque Journal
"Haemi Balgassi's first picture book is an exquisitely
told tale... A subject not often seen in books for children and made all
the stronger by Soentpiet's powerful and evocative
illustrations." - Tricia Gardella, The
Union Democrat, Sonora
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