LI kids' book touches lives in Japan

Two Greenlawn children -- Casey Nickerson, 10, and her brother Ryan, 8 -- hadn't expected the book they'd written about and dedicated to a 10-year-old friend in Tokyo to touch the lives of children affected by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan.

The 24-page children's book, "A Small Gift for a Big Wish," is about Akari Amano, Casey and Ryan's friend, who is trying to bring a sense of hope and peace to the people in Japan as that nation recovers from the March 11 quake and tsunami that killed at least 12,175 people.

Akari and Casey became friends seven years ago at the Montessori preschool in Huntington. Their mothers, Yuko Amano and Michelle Nickerson, also became friends and remained so after the Amanos returned to Japan in 2009.

Nickerson, 41, said it took about a month for Casey and Ryan to write the story, which she edited. She said the family self-published the book and read it to the Akari family and some of their friends via a video chat. The Nickersons also sent the book to the Save the Children charitable organization, which helps children worldwide.

"If I can teach my children how to help others in life, I know they will succeed in their own lives," said Nickerson, a homemaker. "There are many valuable lessons to be learned from this experience. It's not just about writing a book."

"The book is enabling Save the Children to help the needs of the children in Japan at a time of critical importance," said Jason Chmura, community engagement manager at the charity's Westport, Conn., headquarters.

"It's really amazing to see that children at their age would go to this level," Chmura said of the young Nickersons. "They are so involved and wanting to help the children in Japan."

"The words and sympathy which the book delivers is appreciated by the people of Japan," said Yasuhisa Kawamura, Japan's deputy consulate general in New York. "I thank the Nickerson family. . . . We're very grateful of all the help that the United States offered to Japan."

"I'm helping people," said Ryan, who will be a third-grader at Washington Drive Elementary School this fall. He said it makes him "feel proud" because the book will benefit other children.

Co-author Casey, who's going into the fifth grade, said the writing skills she'd learned Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School helped her to write the book.

All profits from the book "100 percent, will be donated to the Save the Children Foundation," Michelle Nickerson said. More than 150 copies of the book, which costs $20 for softcover and $45 for hardcover, have been published so far.

"Just when you think that no one is seeing your book, you open your mailbox and find a small letter" from former first lady Laura Bush, said Nickerson.

Part of that June 15 letter said, "I applaud your family's effort to help the children victimized by Japan's recent tsunami."