A Piece of Home

by Jeri Watts, Hyewon Yum (Illustrator)

Key Features








Description

A child-friendly story about the trials and triumphs of starting over in a new place while keeping family and traditions close. When Hee Jun's family moves from Korea to West Virginia, he struggles to adjust to his new home. His eyes are not big and round like his classmates', and he can't understand anything the teacher says, even when she speaks s-l-o-w-l-y and loudly at him. As he lies in bed at night, the sky seems smaller and darker. But little by little Hee Jun begins to learn English words and make friends on the playground. And one day he is invited to a classmate's house, where he sees a flower he knows from his garden in Korea - mugunghwa, or rose of Sharon, as his friend tells him - and Hee Jun is happy to bring a shoot to his grandmother to plant a "piece of home" in their new garden. Lyrical prose and lovely illustrations combine in a gentle, realistic story about finding connections in an unfamiliar world.


A child-friendly story about the trials and triumphs of starting over in a new place while keeping family and traditions close. When Hee Jun's family moves from Korea to West Virginia, he struggles to adjust to his new home. His eyes are not big and round like his classmates', and he can't understand anything the teacher says, even when she speaks s-l-o-w-l-y and loudly at him. As he lies in bed at night, the sky seems smaller and darker. But little by little Hee Jun begins to learn English words and make friends on the playground. And one day he is invited to a classmate's house, where he sees a flower he knows from his garden in Korea - mugunghwa, or rose of Sharon, as his friend tells him - and Hee Jun is happy to bring a shoot to his grandmother to plant a "piece of home" in their new garden. Lyrical prose and lovely illustrations combine in a gentle, realistic story about finding connections in an unfamiliar world.

















Product Details








Item #: NTS815196




9781338151961




Paperback Book





32







Realistic Fiction








1 - 3





Lexile®
AD650L




Guided Reading
GR Level M




DRA
20 - 24




ACR

3.6














































A Piece of Home


Paperback Book





5.21
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if(_satellite) {_satellite.pageBottom();} commonUtil.enableMouseflow(); Key Features Item #: NTS815196




9781338151961




Paperback Book





32







Realistic Fiction








1 - 3





Lexile®
AD650L




Guided Reading
GR Level M




DRA
20 - 24




ACR

3.6

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Cultural, Immigration, Realistic Fiction, Fiction

Paperback

First published June 14, 2016

About the author

Jeri Watts has worked as a public school teacher for twenty-seven years. She has written numerous short stories as well as the picture book Keepers. Kizzy Ann Stamps is her first middle-grade novel. Jeri Watts lives in Virginia, where she is a professor at Lynchburg College.

Reviews

[Danielle]

Captivating storytelling. This book packs so much emotion and action into so few words. Plus, it left me teary. It beautifully captures the way adapting to a new place is positive and satisfying, but the sadness of having left never disappears.

[Niki Marion]

I wish the publisher had bought a manuscript by an actual immigrant.

[Angie Thompson]

This is a well-done, poignant look at the immigrant experience from a child's point of view. I loved the balance between the initial difficulties and the eventual settling in and between new friends and old memories. Perfect for children. :)

[Ann]

A strong Korean American picture book about the immigrant experience. The text is a little awkward in parts, but Hyewon Yum's illustrations are pitch perfect. A book to share.

[Sunah Chung]

A study showed when bilinguals reading multicultural picture books, they find out culturally related images easily. A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts and Hyewon Yum reminded me of the study.
A Piece of Home tells a story of Korean student whose family moved to West Virginia from Korea. The protagonist boy, Hee jun, is an ordinary student like other students in classroom in Korea. Like other boys, he is active and playful boy with big smile. However, after moving into West Virginia because of his father taking a position at a law school, he could not smile and say a word in class because he could not understand or speak English despite his teacher’s efforts. As time goes by, he makes friends and understand English. One day, when he visits to his friend’s home, he finds a rose of Sharon which is national flowers of South Korea. It represents the nostalgia of the family who has immigrated to America.
What I loved about this books is authentic descriptions from the perspective of Hee Jun. He shows his struggle and frustration caused by unfamiliar environments and language barriers which are common for immigrant family. His sister, Se Ra, and grandmother also have a hard time to adjust to the new environment. His sister shows violent manners such as biting because of the stress, and his grandmother becomes lifeless. This book shows teachers’ efforts to help this family. Welcoming gestures and community engagement could be solutions to assist immigrant families. The teachers welcomed Se Ra’s grandmother to the school and supported the grandmother's need to learn English. Steve, Hee Jun’s classmate invited Hee Jun to his home. His family was supportive and said warm words that were absolutely helpful for immigrant family. Welcoming gestures and community engagement could be solutions to assist immigrant families. At the same time, this book shows frustrations of Hee Jun. From his perspective, he commented that his young sister, Se Ra, has a grandmother to be in class to support her, but he has no one to be with him when he struggling to adjust himself to the school context. Authentic illustrations of the educational environment in Korea are also attractive. Contrast of the classroom environments and facial expressions of characters in Korea and America show anxiety and concerns about their new life.
One thing I wondered about is the role of a mother in this family. Each family member shows their struggles although a father in this book does not have an issue of language barrier and cultural differences. A grandmother plays the role to make children comfortable at school, and get involved in social relationships with teachers. But, this book does not illustrate the mother's role or experiences as immigrant. I wonder whether the author intentionally describe the mother.

[Eliza L.]

After moving from Korea to America Hee is having a hard time adjusting. There is no one that he connects to. After a few months he starts to learn English and make friends. One day he discovers a piece of home while at a friend’s house. This book is recommended by the Virginia Readers Choice.
This book can help students learn to empathize with other students who move from another country. Teachers could use this book to teach their students to help new students adjust and learn from each other. It is an opportunity for the all the students to grow and learn together.

[Sara]

"A Piece of Home" is a story about a family moving from their homeland Korea to America. It tells of the struggles the children have as they learn a new language and become accustomed to their new way of life.

I gave this book 4/5 stars. I did enjoy this book and I can see how it can be a wonderful read for all students. I do however wish the book spoke more of how the children overcame their frustrations and fears. In the story, the characters simply grew into their old way of life with some reminders of home. I look forward to using this story as a help for my newcomer students.

[Annette]

A PIECE OF HOME by Jeri Watts tells the story of a young boy who moves from Korea to West Virginia and his struggles to fit in.

When his father accepts a job in West Virginia, Hee Jun’s family moves from Korea to a strange new world where people speak and act differently. However, he soon begins to assimilate and feels increasingly comfortable in his new home.

Librarians will find this picture book to be an excellent addition to their growing collection of books focusing on immigration. Teachers will find the book to be useful in helping new immigrants as well as other children learn about the realities of living in an unfamiliar world.

Published by Candlewick on June 14, 2016. ARC courtesy of the publisher.

[Albert Lee]

A piece of home is a realistic fiction of a Korean boy named Hee Jun. The story beings by depicting Hee Jun's everyday life and how he is similar to everyone else in Korea. One day as he is sitting with his family to eat his dad announces that he accepted a job at a law school in West Virginia. The book then starts to show how Hee Jun notices how different he is from everyone and how he struggles to adjust to his new life. As time passes Hee Jun starts to realize he can speak English little by little with some difficulty and is eventually able to interact with his peers.
The problem within this story is a very realistic and common problem many students have when their families immigrate to a new country. They have a hard time adjusting to the new culture due to the different culture and language and only with the passing of time is the issue resolved. The characters are very realistic due to the fact that it tells of how the people in Hee Jun's family who can't speak English struggle and how Hee Jun's teacher tries to carefully teach him, but both Hee Jun and his teacher understand that they don't understand each other. The illustrations are incredibly colorful and accurately depicts the setting, plot, and characters while corresponding to the text which helps hold a child's interest while reading. They even enhance the story by showing the small bits of the Korean culture such as bowing and respecting elders while not being explicitly mentioned. Within the story there are a variety of cultural groups present including the ones that the author and illustrator are a part of. The speech accurately represents the Korean culture, but the lifestyle of the character could be slightly generalized. Yes, Korean's do eat on the floor while sitting on a cushion, but they do not do this all the time. They usually eat at the table while sitting on chairs and sometimes eat at the floor when there either a lot of people over or they go out to eat and that is how the restaurant is arranged.

[Bailey Towles]

This book is about a family who moves from Korea to West Virginia. In Korea the little boy fits in and has friends and when he moves to the United States he sees himself as different. He says that his eyes are not big and round like everyone else. He says that his classmates names "sit like stones on my tongue." He says that it is very dark in West Virginia and he has to touch his eyes just to make sure they are open.
His grandmother also lived with them in Korea, and moved with them to West Virginia. In Korea she would coax her mugunghwa shrubs, and in the states she would just sit at home. Until one day, the little boy made a friend. His new friend invited the little boy to his house to play. When he got there, the little boy noticed his friend had a mugunghwa shrub. He took a part home to his grandmother to plant in their backyard. So now, they have a piece of Korea at their new house in the United States.

I would give this book four stars. At first, it did not catch my attention, but then when the little boy and his family moved to the United States, I enjoyed reading about how his transition was to a new school. He had a difficult time going to a new school. He felt like an outcast.

If I were to read this book to elementary school students, I think it would be appropriate for all ages. The upper grades might not like it as much as the younger grades do though. I think this would be a great book to read if the class got a new student in the middle of the year. Often times, new students can feel left out. I think everyone in the class can relate to something in this book. Whether it has been moving schools and feeling left out, or making new friends with the new kid.

[Olivia Hernandez]

A Piece of Home by Jeri Watts is a story about a boy and his family moving from Korea to the West Virginia. Hee Jun and his grandmother have a difficult time adjusting to the cultural differences and feeling unordinary during the move. However, as the story goes they begin to learn about the new American culture, english language, and Hee Jun makes his first american friend. With time, they become happy with their new home in America and become a stronger family as a whole.

The major themes in this book are Korean culture, how people are different, family, and kindness.

My first reaction to this book was very positive because it represents a culture that is outside of America. I like how this book can relate to kids that have moved to a new place because Hee Jun's feelings are very typical for a child experiencing that kind of change. The illustrations are beautifully done with a definite Korean influence on them. I also loved how the book went into detail about certain things in Korean culture because I definitely learned new things while reading!

I would recommend this book because of it's representation of another culture. The story can be relatable while simultaneously broadening their perspective to different ways of life. Kids can also learn how to be more aware of new students by making an effort to help them feel at home just as Hee Jun's friend did. Overall the book can help young kids understand what another person might be experiencing and how to be conscious of it.

[Juana]

The illustration for this book were done in watercolors. The story is about a family that lived in Korea and because his father was offer a new job in West Virginia they all had to move to the US. They have trouble adjusting and they feel different but with the time they realize that in the US their are things that makes them feel like if they were in Korea. I really enjoyed reading this book its made me think about students who leave their native places to better their education or life. I do think its hard especially if you do not speak the language but what this book does is wonderful. You might not feel like you belong in certain places but it is up to the individual to make it feel good and see the good things about the place. This book can bring lost of connections to students that come from around the world to new places and it is so well designed. The texture, the use of colors and the way they presented multicultural individuals makes it a great story to read to the class.

[Marlee Adams]

Summary: A Piece of Home is the story of a Korean family, who has to move to West Virginia for their father’s career and their lives go from extra-ordinary to not so ordinary. The mother of a friend had planted a flower from back home. He is sent home with the flower and the grandmother says “A piece of heaven”, but the boy replies back by saying “a piece of home”.

Evaluation: I enjoyed A Piece of Home because it does give an example of the different cultures in which we encounter through our daily lives. It also gives us a sense of how to take situations from ones we don’t appreciate and turn them into good situations.

Teaching Idea: I would use A Piece of Home to do compare and contrast the young boys life within the different areas of the world. I would use this an introductory lesson to writing, but also history as we learn about different parts of the world.

[Lu's Reviews]

This book features a young boy who has recently moved to the USA from Korea was really lovely. It presented the boy's concerns (standing out, language barriers, worries about his little sister and grandmother) in a straight-forward and non-schmaltzy way. I really loved the illustrations of the little sister BITING her new teacher out of frustration. It reminded me of Edward's My Naughty Little Sister. Lu had a lot of empathy for the little boy character and was aghast at the little sister ("NO TO BITING!"). The text led us to discuss how hard it would be to not understand new friends and how helpful it was for the little boy to play with new friends. I don't think Lu picked up much about the discussion of the Grandmother's initial depression or how important the children were to integrating her into her new community.

(Library book, August 2019)

[Alicia Klepeis]

I really enjoyed this story of a family moving from Korea to the United States. The parents are not much a part of the story, leaving most of the happenings to occur to the grandmother and her grandson, Hee Jun (the main character). The struggles of learning a new language and navigating in a new culture are presented in a realistic way. The author does a beautiful job of describing Hee Jun's feelings and experiences: "My new classmates smile and talk, but it is sharp noise. Their names sit like stones on my tongue: Steve. Tom." He misses feeling like he fits in, whether because his hair and eyes are different from his West Virginia classmates. The story has a happy ending where the whole family is making progress to finding their place in their new home. Lovely illustrations by Hyewon Yum.

[Jenny]

This is a (realistic fiction) story of a young boy named Hee Juh whose family moves from Korea to West Virginia. He is struggling...things look and sound different, the language is challenging, his grandmother seems unhappy. The English names and words feel like stones in his mouth. Slowly, he begins to adjust. The illustrations are really lovely. Parts of the text have an emotional impact...but while it is clear that this move is challenging, the problem seems to be solved and things seem better more quickly than feels realistic to me. I recognize that this is a picture book for young children, and I think it has value. But I think that many immigrant children struggle for a long time and this feels a bit too quickly/happily resolved.

[Megan Chan]

Category: Diverse

A Piece of Home is about a family who is from Korea. In Korea, he is normal but one day, his father accepts a law school acceptance and they are moving to West Virginia. Suddenly his life is turned around, he doesn't know the language or the culture.

I love the book's illustration. This book really related to me in some way because i moved when i was young to Canada. Though i didn't have any language struggles, it was weird to be in a foreign land that i didn't want to be in. This book made me feel that home can really be anywhere that we want it to me. I love that it showed that in Korea, it is very common to sit on the floor to eat dinner but once they were in the US, they sat at a high dining table to chairs.

[Christie Kaaland]

Tells the story of a boy's immigration from Korea to West Virginia, where he is "not ordinary but different", speaking of how English sounds to him ("like sharp stones"), the mountains are different, the teacher who is nice and tries to help, but is neither understand each other. His little sister spits, and kicks because she is unhappy with her new residence so Grandmother goes to class with the little girl to give her a sense of security and 'normal'. The boy narrating finally makes friends, and begins to understand English enough to communicat and make friends, speaking "light like a bubble" finally.

[Dean]

Lovely book with amazing illustrations. The story speaks the simple version of how an immigrant may feel when coming to America (overwhelmed, confused, upset, doesn't want to be there) and how it feels to be forced into a new culture rather than slowly introduced. He finds a "piece of home" in the form of a flower, and immediately takes it to his grandmother, who is also having a hard time adjusting to their move, and she is pleased. Both she and the main character begin to thrive shortly after.

I found that this book is important towards the topic of families, because it shows that a home is not where you live, but where your family is. It shows the love that families can have and how we should help each other.

For the checklist: It seemed interesting to children, includes a thick plot, has realistic characters, the illustrations are relevant and explain further detail, it contains a cultural group and aspects of that culture, and I did not find any negative stereotypes.

[Lynsy]

This is a very heartwarming story of a little Korean boy who has been uprooted and moved to West Virginia for his father's job. Hee Jun struggles to understand his teacher and make friends, but eventually, he and his family get the hang of it after meeting some nice people. It contains a nice melding of cultures, such as when his grandmother sews a flower onto his teacher's wedding dress like they do in Korea. I think this could be used as a good teaching opportunity, and I appreciate the work that went into it on the author's part after meeting a little boy just like Hee Jun.

[Marissa Dougherty]

This Realistic Fiction book is about a little Korean boy who has to leave Korea to move to West Virginia. In the book, he talks about how he was just a ordinary boy in Korea and how when he moved to West Virginia he was considered different. The characters of the story are all of a Korean family: a little boy, his sister, mother, father, and grandmother. The theme is about different cultures and how we may look different but we are all the same.

[Alex Furlong]

I'm very glad I was able to end on such a high note reading this book. Not only is this book very practical for children adjusting to a new life in a new environment, it will also help those prepare to do such things. In very few words, the author is able to capture tons of emotion into the story. Hee Jun and his family move from Korea to West Virginia, and the story tells the way moving is satisfying, but also how the love of the old home will never vanish.

[Linda DiGaetano]

This is a story of a little boy, Hee Jun who lived in Korea with his parents, sister and grandmother. One day his father came home and explained that he accepted a job in West Virgina. So the family moved across the globe and were not very happy about it. Everything seemed dark to HeeJun. Eventually he began to like his surroundings and his new friends. It took a while but he did adapt to a whole new culture. Nice illustrations. Good life lesson book.

[Margaret Boling]

4/22/2018 ~~ I especially appreciated that the family immigrating to the U.S. was a professional family with the father taking a university teaching position. The story captured the elementary child's frustration with his struggle to fit in and learn the language. We also saw the change in the grandmother's position, from professional (teacher) to stay-at-home adult who has no language connection. The gardening connections were poignant.

[Hannah Atwood]

This book tells the story of a family that has recently immigrated from Korea to the US. Everyone in the family, from the toddler to the grandma, is struggling t adjust. However, they are able to find a piece of home in everything around them and learn how to be happy and live a good life in a new environment.
This book would be good for read aloud to primary grades. It could be used to introduce the topic of immigration, as well as the emotion of feeling out of control into your classroom.

[Regan Brakebush]

This really highlighted how difficult the language barrier can be for young children moving here from abroad. English is such a difficult language to learn and even though many Koreans learn some English in school, the children in this story are too young to have learned any. The children struggle and miss Korea terribly until they finally start to feel like they fit in and find their favorite flowers, which make their new home feel a little like their old one. It was sweet.

[Laura]

When Hee Jun's father gets a new job, the entire family moves to West Virginia. The children and grandmother have a hard time adjusting to their new life. Little by little, they learn English and make friends. I especially love that this book shows that adults, not just children, might also have a hard time in a new place. The illustrations are sweet and calming while showing the frustration, anger and sadness, hope and satisfaction that Hee Jun and his family experience.

[FM Family]

This one was ok. It's interesting and shows a lot of important pieces of a migration story - the grandmother feeling isolated, the youngest kid acting up, the older kid feeling he can't connect with people until he has his words. It's got a nice thread of a plant connecting the family back to their home country and culture. Something about it just didn't grab me overall, though. Somehow in the balance of exciting vs evocative it just didn't come out strongly on either side for me.

[Melanie Hetrick]

A young Korean boy slowly learns the way of his new city/state/country when his family moves from Korea to West Virginia, USA. He is overjoyed when a newly discovered friend shows him the flowers in his backyard: the same that grew in his grandmother's garden in Korea.

A good classroom choice when there is a new student who comes from somewhere vastly different to help students understand what it's like to be the person that doesn't understand anything.

[Keren]

This is a very well-written book about the experience of a foreign student. The perspective of a child in a new environment. This family moves from Korea to West Virginia, the family all struggles to adjust to their new home but all that matters is that they are together. In the end, they find a flower that they have back in Korea and they plant it in their garden and now they have "A Piece of Home".