K Is for Korea

by Hyechong Cheung, Prodeepta Das (Photographer)

In this photographic alphabet, the author introduces young readers to some of the customs, religion and culture, both ancient and modern, that make up this high-profile country. Focusing on both city and country life ? from Arirang to Lacquerware to Taekwondo ? this is a celebration of Korea in all its colourful diversity.

Genres: Asia, Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2008

Reviews

[Rebecca]

Gave me some ideas of Korean things to find informational videos to continue our study of Korea.

[Nadina]

Simple and informative with some interesting pictures, but I feel some of the letters were a stretch, especially when considering the additional fact the korean alphabet does not match the romanized alphabet the book is written in.

[Losa Sua]

it was really awesome book and it gives me a new experience of Korea and it also gives me more information to know about Korea and what is so special about Korea to me

[Sarah]

Basic and obscure facts about Korea organized by the English alphabet and illustrated with photographs. The matching Korean letter can be found next to the English one on each page.

[Tiffiny]

Loved that this book piqued my daughter interest in so many things about Korea and facilitated hours of more in-depth research!

[Camille Tesch]

Korea ages 6-8

[JenniferJennaJennyJen Melendez]

Awards: None

Appropriate grade level: Pre-K- 2nd

Original summary: This alphabet book takes you from the city to the country with photographs of Korea. Every letter has a corresponding picture. R is for Rice.

Original review: I enjoyed the pictures documenting Korean culture. My favorite was B is for Buchaechum the traditional Korean fan dance because the picture was so beautiful. It was great to learn H is for Han Ok the traditional Korean-stlye house.

Possible in-class uses:
1. Alphabet recognition (write, trace & draw a picture)
2. Bring in photos to be labeled with a letter of the alphabet

[Becky B]

An alphabetically-based tour of Korea and its customs. Though the book was a decent introduction to some of Korean culture, I was a little disappointed. I lived in Korea for over a year and I felt like this book missed a lot of the basics. It did include some lesser known aspects of the culture that I guess shows more of a depth of knowledge (for example, I lived there over a year, hung out almost entirely with Koreans or Korean-Americans and have worked with Korean students over 10 years and I never knew before that they had a traditional fan dance or that there was a lacquerware festival), but at the same time I don’t feel those are real highlights of the culture. It will be interesting to see how the Korean students at our school react to this (I’m sure they WILL have an opinion and make it known). One thing I do know is that most Koreans would love this book more if it had K for Kimchi and C for Corea instead. (Korea was Anglicized with a C before Japanese occupation and the Koreans can still be a little sore about the Japanese forcing the change just so they could come first in alphabetical order.) I did like the appearance of the Korean alphabet equivalent of the letter that appeared on each page, but again was disappointed because this wasn’t pointed out or explained. I wouldn’t have known except I can read Korean characters. Anyway, an ok book but was hoping for better.

[Catherine Woodman]

I really loved this ABC book--although I did think it was written at a pretty high level for kids who would still not know the alphabet and therefore be an audience for an ABC book. The focus is Korean culture, and there are a couple of obvious choices, like K is for Korea and R is for Rice, but there are alot of things that I did not know at all, and so learned about. The pictures are absolutely beuatiful, and it made me think "It would be cool to go there".

[Linh Tong]

This book talks about the culture of people all over Korea, including people in the country side and people in the city side. Each letter is assigned to a specific, child-friendly, and interesting piece of Korean culture or history. Some of the important aspects of the Korean culture included in this ABC book are traditions, landmarks, and fun parades for children to attend. This would be a good book to put at the book center for students to learn about the Korean culture.

[Kaethe]

Also successful with the KitKat. She really enjoys learning about other societies, particularly Asian ones.

[Maria]

Half Korean words and half English words make up this alphabet book. Interesting selection and fun introduction to Korea.