Cooper's Lesson

by Sun Yung Shin

This inspiring story about identity and intergenerational friendship, featuring a young biracial boy, is written in both English and Korean. Richly hued oil paintings and tender vivid prose combine to bring these characters to life. Full color.

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

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 16, 2004

About the author

신 선 영 Sun Yung Shin was born in Seoul, spent her early years in the Chicago area, and is now based in Minneapolis. She is the award-winning author of thirteen books for adults and children. She is 2026 McKnight Foundation Fellow in Creative Prose and a recent finalist for a Guggenheim Fellowship. Her newest picture book Revolutions are Made of Love: The Story of Grace Lee Boggs & James Boggs is available for pre-order wherever books are sold, and will be available on November 4, 2025; her nonfiction book Heart Eater: A Memoir of Immigration is forthcoming in 2026. Her poetry has been included in the 2021 Gwangju Biennale and she was an invited presenter at the Korean Literary Translation Institute's 2018 conference on Korean diasporic literature. She is a frequent speaker and keynote presenter in community spaces and at academic conferences, most recently at the University of Salamanca, Spain, and University of Joensuu, Finland. She is on the advisory board for the Immigrant Writing Series at Black Lawrence Press. For more about her work, please visit sunyungshin.com or follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and Threads.

Reviews

[Panda Incognito · Rating 4 out of 5]

This bilingual picture book explores the experiences of a mixed race boy who feels frustrated about not fitting into the Korean community. He struggles with the language, and with reconciling the Korean and white parts of his identity, but after he gets in trouble with a Korean storekeeper, he begins to help at the shop, learns more about the dual parts of this man's identity, and grows in compassion.

This picture book highlights the power of inter-generational friendships, and provides a nuanced look into the experiences of a biracial child. The author and illustrator are both Korean adoptees, and according to the teacher's guide from the publisher, Sun Yung Shin drew on her own experiences of feeling sheepish and uncomfortable when other Korean Americans would ask her if she could speak Korean, or spoke to her in Korean and expected her to understand them.

This story explores identity challenges with nuance and authenticity, and can be a great resource for Korean Americans, whether they are mixed race, adopted, or from a later generation that feels disconnected from their heritage and family's original language. The bilingual element is engaging and creative, because even if someone can only read one of the languages, it is accessible to both Korean and English readers, and the dual languages printed in the book reflect Cooper's identity and story.

[Aerin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Cooper struggles with being "half and half" until a moment in Mr. Lee's store changes everything. Too wordy for younger than, say, second grade, but way cool to have the words written once in English and once in Korean.

[Emily Newcomer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was realistic in showing how difficult it can be for a child (or anyone, really) who has two parents of different races. It can be confusing when trying to find one's cultural identity, and then adding language into the mix just complicates things further. It's important to have these stories accessible for children who may be experiencing similar feelings as Cooper to reassure them that there are other people like them and that their feelings are valid, but also that it can and will get better with practice and time. I also liked that they provided English and Korean text in the book. It was a longer read and quite wordy, so I probably would read this to kids at least 7 years or older, but it really depends on the ability of each child!

[Karen Bessin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cooper lives between two worlds, half-Korean and half-American. When his mother sends him to the Korean grocery to pick up some ginger for dinner and Cooper feels like the shop owner is laughing at him, Cooper makes a poor choice. Over the course of the next week, Cooper works with Mr. Lee to learn some very important lessons about making amends, judging others, growing up, and about bridging different worlds. Illustrated by Kim Cogan. (Genre: Realistic fiction picture book. Ages 5-9)

[Johanna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful.

[Angelcia]

w

[Eva-Marie Nevarez · Rating 2 out of 5]

I fully agree with another reviewer on all of her points. My daughter is almost five and a half and this was definitely too wordy for her. She grew bored quickly and there was no pulling her back, no matter how hard I tried.
The fact that the story is told in both English and Korean is the best aspect of the book. I enjoyed showing Julia this and showing her how someone else could pick this up and read those characters over there and they're going to be reading the very same story we're reading.
I think she was interested in the actual characters and that may be more because she knows how to speak a few Korean words.
Maybe there was more to it than that. Maybe a child that isn't so aware would be more interested. You'd be hard pressed to look into Julia's huge circle of friends and not be able to find any specific race, religon, color, etc. Someone being half American, half Korean means nothing to her. Actually, this is just coming to mind, she knows three Korean-American children. One is a school friend, two are family friends.
The story is a good one and an older child, particularly a sheltered child, may really get something from it. I liked the part where Cooper handled his anger at Mr. Lee the wrong way. That gave more to the story and enabled it to become more of a teaching moment for everyone I think.
I get what the author was trying to do. I think my library should shelve this in a different area though because it's certainly not for toddlers/very young children.

[Gail Barge]

This is a bilingual book, written in both English and Korean. This would be a good book for any student who is mixed race, or struggling with identifying with a culture. Cooper finds it hard to say he is Korean when he feels he can't fluently speak Korean. This book also includes an authors note about her own struggles with identifying as Korean and American and the challenges she faced in school.

[Sean Gresham · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a boy who is struggling to find his identity. He is of Korean decent, but does not speak fluent Korean. He over comes his annoyance of the grocery store owner despite the fact he only speaks Korean to become friends. This story is a little wordy for the youngest elementary grades but starting in 3rd grade could be appropriate especially in a read aloud. This book would be very good for students who are 1st or 2nd generation immigrants.

[A · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story for any child, but particularly relevant to children from multiple backgrounds, who are trying to work out who they are and where they fit in. Cooper is struggling with being both Korean and White American. Part of the answer lies in embracing the Korean language.