More than twenty of these former toddlers have been reunited with their works of art and have shared their stories.

After Tomiko Sasaki passed away, her three daughters found several hand-bound books full of original pieces of children’s art in a trunk labeled “Topaz.” These books had been given to Tomiko by one of the preschool teachers, Alice Okita, as a parting gift when the Topaz Preschools closed in 1945. Tomiko had taken over the role of the Topaz Preschool Director in 1943. After leaving Topaz, Tomiko carefully saved these books for decades.

Each piece of art contained the artist’s name and either their birth date or date the piece was created. Using this information we embarked on a journey to find these toddlers and reunite them with their work. Over thirty of the sixty-nine toddlers whose art is contained in the books have been located! You can help us continue the search. Do you recognize any names on this list?