Sheila Hamanaka

Hamanaka is a Sansei Japanese American,[1] the daughter of actor Conrad Yama and Mary Takaoka of the Vaudeville group Taka Sisters. She has two older siblings; the writer and musician V. Vale, and musician/singer Lionelle Hamanaka.[2]

Hamanaka lives in Tappan, New York.[3]

• 1992 American Book Award

• The journey: Japanese Americans, racism and renewal. Orchard Books. 1990. ISBN 978-0-531-05849-7.
• Peace Crane. Morrow Junior Books. 1995. ISBN 978-0-688-13815-8.
• On the wings of peace. Clarion Books. 1995. ISBN 978-0-395-72619-8.
• All the Colors of the Earth. HarperCollins. 1999. ISBN 978-0-688-17062-2.
• In Search Of The Spirit: The Living National Treasures of Japan, 1999 Morrow Junior, Sheila Hamanaka, Ayano Ohmi, ISBN 978-0-688-14607-8
• Grandparents Song. HarperCollins. 2003. ISBN 978-0-688-17852-9.
• The boy who loved all living things: the imaginary childhood journal of Albert Schweitzer. Animal Welfare Institute. 2006. ISBN 978-0-938414-98-8.[4]
• Pablo Puppy's Search for the Perfect Person. Animal Welfare Institute. 2008. ISBN 978-0-938414-91-9.

Hamanaka, author and illustrator of Peace Crane and All the Colors of the Earth, writes in a clear, straightforward prose that seems inspired by the focused simplicity of the masters she and Ohmi interviewed. Hamanaka's illustrations and Ohmi's calligraphy work beautifully with the text.[5]