A Home Away From Home

Based on True Stories: Children's Book Helps American Kids Discover Japan

Ipswich, Mass. – As an American kid growing up in Japan, Author Fran Kramer experienced first-hand the successes, fears, and joys of learning about a new culture. The Traveling Sketchbook: An American Kid Discovers Japan (now available through 1stBooks Library) is a fictional account of her true-life experiences in Japan.

The Traveling Sketchbook is set in 1950s postwar Japan, a country rich in culture, spirituality, and history. Answering the simple question What is it like for a kid to move to a foreign country?" The Traveling Sketchbook is about learning, growing and changing. Life in a foreign country is a journey of excitement and adventure as a New World opens up before your eyes. While a new language and customs must be learned, the thrill of the unexpected never truly disappears.

Ten-year-old Anne Kruger and her brothers, Bob and Rickie, are at the center of this inspirational journey. Children and adults alike will find themselves caught up in the brisk narrative and brilliant characterization as the Kruger children make friends with their Japanese neighbors, attend international schools and learn about typhoons, earthquakes and more in their new home.

Author Fran Kramer began writing The Traveling Sketchbook in 1989 after she was unable to find books on American children integrating into a foreign culture. While there were plenty of books about foreign children acclimating themselves to America, almost nothing existed on the opposite side of the spectrum.

The author has had a life-long love of Asia, holding a BA and MA in Asian Studies. Besides living In Japan as a child, she returned to Japan as an adult, underwent an intensive two-year language training program and worked for a number of years as a consultant using the Japanese language to promote better care for terminally ill people.