The Memory Tree

Content : On her tenth birthday, Sumiko was hoping for an extraordinary day. No such luck: her parents are overwhelmed, and she has to celebrate at her grandmother Naoko’s house. A grandmother she is ashamed of — because of the ugly scar on her cheek that attracts teasing from her classmates on the way home from school.
Yet that evening, Naoko gives her a puzzling gift: a tiny ginkgo biloba sapling, barely larger than the scar. And over a steaming cup of tea, Sumiko finally, truly listens to her grandmother. She discovers that the woman she had avoided looking at was ten years old, just like she is today, on 6 August 1945, when the bomb fell on Hiroshima.
As Naoko tells her story, something shifts inside Sumiko. Shame gives way to admiration, and the scar she had dreaded becomes the mark of a survivor.
Together, they plant the little tree in the garden — and Sumiko realises that she, too, has grown that day.

An insight into the hibakusha, the survivors of the atomic bomb who were long stigmatised and left out of the historical narrative. Passing on their stories so that we can understand — and never forget.
With 6 documentary pages to place the story in its historical context. Learn more about Hiroshima today, contemporary Japan, and Naoko’s famous strawberry mochi recipe!

About the author: Anne Loyer spent over fifteen years as a journalist before turning to children’s literature. Her books combine documentary rigor with emotional depth. They have earned her several awards, including the Prix Vendredi 2024 (jury des jeunes). She has published with Thierry Magnier, Casterman, Glénat Jeunesse, Didier Jeunesse, and others. The Memory Tree is her third title in the “Un jour ailleurs” collection, following Ma blanche colombe (Guernica, Spanish Civil War) and Le courage de mon père (Gandhi under British colonial rule). She lives in Bourges.

About the illustrator: Louna Desvaux trained in textile design before travelling the world to document creative and sustainable textile initiatives, then established herself as an illustrator and librarian. Her work draws on nature, everyday life and her travels — vivid, luminous, full of colour. Painted in gouache and coloured pencil, her illustrations for The Memory Tree strike a deliberate balance: their brightness and energy make the weight of the subject approachable for young readers without softening its truth. She lives and works in the Paris area.