She saw using her seesaw

Linda Sue Park (author)
Jean and Mou-sien Tseng (illustrators)
Seesaw Girl
Clarion, 1999

Twelve-year-old Jade Blossom did not immediately grab my interest, but with each ensuing chapter, I found her more and more compelling. Born into an elite family (her father was an advisor to the Korean king), Jade enjoys tremendous advantages, a fine house, fine clothes, good food, and servants. But, her high status comes also with responsibilities and restrictions. She must wait on the men of her family, for example. When her closest friend and confident, her cousin Willow, marries into another family and moves away, Jade realizes just how difficult it is to hew to social expectations. She is desperate to escape the walls of her family's home, but this was forbidden to girls of her status. Jade must find a way to satisfy her curiosity and ambitions without bringing shame to her family. Linda Sue Park's story offers a glimpse into pre-modern Korean society, and while much is different for children growing up in many parts of the modern world, it nevertheless offers thoughtful instruction for meeting social challenges.

Frightful fruit

Janie Jaehyun Park 

The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon

Groundwood Books, 2002

I always find it interesting to compare two or more versions of the same story, and so it was exciting to find another telling of this Korean folktale. What I like best about Janie Jaehyun Park's The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon are her illustrations. The stylized imagery of fungus-shaped clouds, layered hills, and downright goofy-looking tiger is drawn from traditional East Asian painting. Her colors and textures, though, are more of the Impressionist to Post-impression kinds. The combination (which is being explored by contemporary Chinese artists such as Zhang Hongtu) is anything but derivative. Park's prose pales next to her vivid pictures, and her telling demonstrates the key role played by the rabbit in Suzanne Crowder Han's version, but the pathetic tiger's face sticks. 

Not the Easter bunny

Suzanne Crowder Han (retelling)
Richard Wehrman (illustrator)
The Rabbit's Tail: A Story from Korea
Henry Holt, 1999

Readers familiar with this folktale will see the pun in the title—a tale about a tail. Some folktales convey a needed lesson for proper socialization; others are clever explanations for why things are the way they are. Suzanne Crowder Han's The Rabbit's Tail belongs to the latter category. A hilarious chain of misunderstandings begins with Tiger's unfamiliarity with dried persimmons. (And, just in case you don't know, it's a dried fruit, common in East Asia.) When he hears a baby hush at the mention of dried persimmons, Tiger imagines a being far more powerful than himself. Fearful, he seeks a hiding place in the barn. When a thief comes to steal an ox, he mistakes Tiger for a calf, which he ropes and then rides. Not seeing the thief, Tiger imagines that the dried persimmon has come after him. The thief soon realizes his error, and fears for his life. I am tempted to go on, but it would be too much of a spoiler. So, I'll just note that when the rabbit tries to spell out what is what, he probably didn't plan on losing his tail for it.

Dream on

Jenny Hom (author)
Julia Kuo (illustrator)
Clara Lee and the Apple Pie Dream
Little, Brown, 2011

Third-grader Clara Lee lives in an idealized American small town, which celebrates autumn with the rather spring-sounding Apple Blossom Festival. The improbable name, with its implications of a beautiful and flourishing atmosphere, suits the story. Drawing courage from her grandfather and his auspicious dream interpretation, Clara Lee determines to rise to new challenges, from climbing the rope in P.E. class to competing for Little Miss Apple Pie. Her major competitor is Dionne, a descendant a founding father of their town. Dionne claims to be as American as apple pie, making Clara Lee uneasy about her Korean heritage and doubt her status as an American. The lesson of Jenny Hom's book comes as no surprise: what counts is an individual's integrity. A good friend must apologize when in the wrong; Little Miss Apple Pie must represent core American values. American myth-making lives on.

Tending the fire

Linda Sue Park (author)

Julie Downing (illustrator)

The Firekeeper's Son

Clarion, 2004

When Sang-hee's father injures his ankle, Sang-hee must assume responsibility for lighting the signal fire atop the mountain near his village. Imagining how exciting it might be to meet soldiers, Sang-hee hesitates. When he makes the right choice, he is rewarding with fiery visions of flaming warriors, as well as his father's pride. Linda Sue Park's story, based on pre-modern Korean defense system, invites children to imagine another time and place, and to confront an ethical choice. I don't know whether Sang-hee's clay figurines are based on Korean precedents, but Julie Downing's inclusion of these charming toys in her illustrations effectively engaged my kindergartener.

Little lost slippers everywhere

Yes, you guessed it: Cinderella. She's everywhere, and contrary to post-Disney American popular assumption, she appears earliest in Chinese literature (see Ai-ling Louie's note). The narrative core remains remarkably consistent from Chinese to Korean to Hmong examples, reviewed here. In all cases, we have a heroine who is as beautiful as she is long suffering. Her jealous step-mother and step-sisters heap abuse after abuse upon her, whether she is called Yeh-shen, Pear Blossom, or Jouanah. Supernatural forces intervene to allow her to attend a festival where a high status man sees her and falls instantly in love. Finally, a mate-less shoe serves as a token to reunite the couple. What make these folk tales interesting, though, are the differences. For example, the supernatural force may take the form of a magic fish, tokgabi goblins, or the hide of a deceased mother-turned-cow. Illustrations are especially important for making the story fresh. I like Ruth Heller's best for their fantastical and decorative qualities. Anne Sibley O'Brien strives for accuracy. The pictures by Ed Young, though beautiful, are a bit too ethereal and miss opportunities for narrative specificity. If you or your children are into Cinderella, exploring these other versions will probably be quite fun.

 

Ai-ling Louie (author) and Ed Young (illustrator)

Yeh-Shen: A Cinderella Story from China

Turtleback, 1996

Shirley Climo (author) and Ruth Heller (illustrator)

The Korean Cinderella

HarperCollins, 1993

Jewell Reinhart Coburn with Tzexa Cherta Lee (authors) and Anne Sibley O'Brien (illustrator)

Jouanah: A Hmong Cinderella

Shen's Books, 1996

Change and difference

Sometimes we long for change, but change can be hard. The same goes for difference. And if those are already challenging for us, how do we explain to our children? These three authors treat their child protagonists with compassion, and as each realizes how to accept themselves and others, they give us lessons for becoming better people.

Cooper is coping with his Korean-American identity. It seems to be an impossible situation when his Korean language ability is slim, and yet he is regularly confronted with the loaded question, "What are you?" When the answer, "an American," doesn't satisfy, he must consider whether and to what extent he is Korean. Shame and confusion lead him to act impulsively and wrongly, but in doing so, Peter gets to know the Korean-American grocer who offers Cooper a chance to redeem himself. The bilingual English-Korean edition of Sun Yung Shin's Cooper's Lesson may be especially appealing to multi-generational families.

Kimiko Sakai's Sachiko is young, confused, and a little scared by the effects of Alzheimer's disease on her beloved grandmother. Sachiko remembers and misses the grandmother who was coherent and made her feel safe and loved. Now her grandmother is old, but speaks in a voice that is young, confused, and a little scared. At first, Sachiko reacts with petulance and resentment, leading her grandmother on a ruse. But along the way, she learns that she who is still coherent now has the capacity to make another feel safe and loved. Tomie Arai's illustrations for Sachiko Means Happiness effortlessly capture with equal compassion the complex psychology of the characters.

Our sensitive young narrator of Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding is niece Jenny. A good observer, she is our knowledgeable guide to Chinese wedding rituals and their symbolism. While activities may be quite different from a western-style wedding, emotions are the same. Her family feels joy and anticipation, but Jenny also feels fear as she worries about being displaced by Peter's bride, Stella. But savvy and thoughtful Aunt Stella brings Jenny away from fear and back into the family fold. Yumi Heo's child-like images capture the anxiety and wonder of Jenny's point of view.

Cooper's Lesson

Sun Yung Shin (author) and Kim Cogan (illustrator)

Children's Book Press, 2004

Sachiko Means Happiness

Kimiko Sakai

Chidren's Book Press, 1997

Uncle Peter's Amazing Chinese Wedding

Lenore Look (author) and Yumi Heo (illustrator)

Atheneum, 2006