Annyonghi kasipsio

Frances Park and Ginger Park (authors)
Katherine Potter (illustrator)
The Have a Good Day Cafe
Lee and Low, 2005

Grandmother's nostalgia for her Korean past and grandson's optimism for his family's American future converge as they hatch a plan to replace the hot-dog-and-chips fare at the family food cart business with savory Korean cuisine. A cheerful variation on the American dream theme, authors Frances Park and Ginger Park offer a brief glossary of Korean words.

Courage

Soyung Pak (author)

Joung Un Kim (illustrator)

Sumi's First Day of School Ever

Viking, 2003

Our brave heroine is Sumi, whose first day of school is preceded by practicing a single conversation with her mother: "What is your name? My name is Sumi." As her mother leaves, Sumi's initial perception of school is that it is a lonely place. That is followed by feeling that school is a scary and mean place. But with an apology, a smile, an encouraging gesture, and a shared activity, Sumi comes to see her school as "not-so-mean" and "not-so-scary," and "not-so-lonely." Soyung Pak's story is elegantly crafted and sensitively written.

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