The Ogres' Magic Clubs/the Tiger and the Dried Persimmons

Korean Folk Tales for Children #5

by Duance Vorhees, Mark Mueller, Kim Yon-Kyong

Vol. 5 in the 10 volume set Korean Folk Tales for Children. 2 charming stories are included in one bilingual (English and Korean) volume. 1) A kind brother and his evil older brother steal some magic clubs from some ogres. 2) The humorous tale of a tiger who loses his courage when he overhears a conversation about dried persimmons and imagines them to be a frightful monster.

Genres: Folk Tales

45 pages, Hardcover

First published September 3, 1990

Reviews

[Becky B · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two Korean folktales retold in both English and Korean. In the first, a young man out collecting wood stumbles upon the abode of ogres with magic clubs that generate silver and gold. He accidentally scares them away and becomes wealthy. His lazy older brother becomes jealous and tries to replicate his younger brother's adventure but with different results. In the second, a hungry tiger emerges from his lair to find it winter. He slinks down into town in search of food and happens to overhear a mother warning her child to do something or the monstrous tiger will get him. The child doesn't cease his howling, but when faced with something called a persimmon, immediately the child quiets. The tiger believes that a persimmon must be a ferocious beast indeed if the child was scared of it but not a tiger. He cowers in the barn. A thief is also in the barn, trying to steal a cow. In the dark, the thief mistakes the tiger for a cow and the tiger is sure this must be the dreaded persimmon. The crazy mixup results in humorous events.

This is definitely my favorite book in this series thus far. The tale of the tiger and the persimmons is hilarious. Kids should be rolling with laughter (as long as they know what a persimmon is...Western kids may need a little intro before reading this story). The ogres tale illustrations reminded me a bit of Where the Wild Things Are, so it may appeal to fans of that book. Highly recommended to include in folktale units or for those studying Korea.