Customer Reviews

Chi-Hoon: A Korean Girl

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Chi-hoon could be an 8-year-old girl almost anywhere--she is playful, imaginative, has an occasional disagreement with her older sister, and loves to visit her grandparents. The charm of this book is that we see Seoul, Korea through a young girl's eyes. This book is filled with snippets of Korean history and culture. We see Chi-hoon struggle to pay attention at a piano lesson, go to market with her mother, try to win a school prize, and play yut, a traditional Korean game, with her grandparents. In a particularly amusing scene, we see Chi-hoon persuade her grandfather to buy her cold noodle soup (a Korean specialty) against her parents' wishes. How many children and parents can identify with that scenario! :) This is a fantastic book for any age. Even the youngest children will enjoy the lovely photographs, and older children and adults will enjoy re-reading the text which contains gentle references to issues such as tremendous academic pressure (Chi-hoon's cousin will remain at home for an entire year to prepare for college entrance exams), the older generation's bias toward male children, and the age hierarchy (Chi-hoon wishes that she didn't have to call her older sister Oni, a title of respect). A must read!