Eliza's Cherry Trees: Japan's Gift to America

By Andrea Zimmerman and Ju Hong Chen

The National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington, D.C. is held annually in remembrance of the first cherry tree planting on March 27, 1912. Now an international symbol of peace and friendship, the trees first came to the nation’s capital from Tokyo, Japan, at the insistence of Eliza Scidmore.

Able to live a life different from most women in the late 1800s, Scidmore was dedicated to her ideas. She had the opportunity to travel with family and friends and wrote the first guidebook about Alaska while there on a trip. Wanting to share her adventures with others, she became the first woman to write for the National Geographic Society. But throughout her travels, she never forgot about the Japanese cherry trees she had seen while visiting her brother in Tokyo. It took her more than twenty years, but with the help of the president’s wife, Mrs. Taft; a Japanese scientist; and a lot of faith, Scidmore’s dream of beautifying her hometown came true.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Open Road Integrated Media
• Release date: Mar 3, 2011
• ISBN: 9781455615704

Andrea Zimmerman

Andrea Zimmerman and David Clemesha are married and have created several children’s books together, including Digger Man, Fire Engine Man and Trashy Town, an ALA Notable Book. Zimmerman was born in Ohio and grew up in New York, Utah and California. When she was young, she loved exploring nature, reading comic books, and riding her horse. She studied fine arts for children in college, then later went back to school at UCLA and became a dentist. Zimmerman and Clemesha live in San Diego, California, with their three sons.

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Reviews for Eliza's Cherry Trees

[rpazmino3calligan · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

What a great book for a class lesson about Washington D.C. This book shows the history behind the beautiful cherry trees in the nation's capital. Having gone to DC, it was so interesting to know that the trees have such meaning. This book is great for empowering students to do what they believe in, even afar failed attempts.

[kwatkins89 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I never knew those Cherry Trees in D.C. symbolized a historical fact. I really enjoyed reading this book and believe that other children will too. I admire the illustrator's creativity of using colored art and sepia colored art. I also liked the author's purpose of including the timeline in the back of the book. It wasn't until then, that I realized this was an autobiography. I also like the emphasis the author placed on Eliza's character. She was a woman who proved to others that she was more than just a housewife. A phenomenal book about a piece of America's history that I don't believe many know about.

[abbylibrarian_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This would be a nice choice for families visiting Washington DC to learn a little bit about the history of the cherry trees before they see them in person. It's also a serviceable choice for women's history since Eliza Scidmore bucked the trend of settling down with children in favor of traveling the world (in the late 19th and early 20th centuries). However, the story's simply nice, not particularly compelling or studded with historical facts. Eliza went to Japan, thought the cherry trees looked nice, and spent 24 years trying to convince men in government to plant them. A timeline of Eliza Scidmore's life is included at the end.