Customer Reviews

The King's Secret: The Legend of King Sejong

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4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

I cannot believe my eyes. The author who has no clue about Korean culture and wrong illustrations ruins what could have been a wonderful story. At first, I thought it was a book about Indian culture. I am pretty upset that this is the second time this author has done this with different publishers. Her first one was so awful that it was written up as a book to avoid in the Asian American Librarian Newsletter. Vote with your money. Please skip this title. King Sejong is credited with invention of Korean letters. If you want authentic books try recommendations from Asia for Kids. If you are a Korean or Korean American, please write to the publisher. I am posting my comment to the Planet Feedback's website.

"Long ago" this historical tale begins, "when tigers smoked long pipes and rabbits talked to dragons..." Well, you've got my attention.

Interesting. This is a fictionalized, mythologized history of an important event in Korean culture, the creation of a phonetic alphabet. This book, we are told in the adult-aimed afterward, is part fiction, part history, based on King Sejong, born in 1397, who ruled the Korean peninsula from 1418 to 1340. Carol Farley gives props to Frances Carpenter, an author who, in 1947, published the English version of the myth that Ms. Farley's book is based on. The creation of a phonetic alphabet is no small feat, it was actually quite a democratizing event. Prior to the Hangeul alphabet, only a small percentage of Koreans had the education to read and write, since it required a basic knowledge of 30,000 Chinese characters. Like most progressive movements, it had its opponents, Confucians who felt that literacy should be the privilege of only the elite, and some shamans of local folk religions taught that new ideas were displeasing to the gods. Imagine! Politically motivated religious leaders exploiting the superstitious beliefs of the uneducated to help them oppose advances that would benefit millions of people! Good thing those days are long over. (By the way, the Buddhists were mostly cool with it; they recognized the value of having religious writings that most people could read)

And guess what? It is illustrated by Robert Jew. This is amazing to me, as my wife's family is descended from the actual creator of Korea's Hangeul alphabet (a palace elder named Chong In-Ji), and I'm a Jew with a cousin named Robert. And he's Jewish too. The first letters of the opening five sentences are "L T T T K" which clearly stands for "Libman, Teach This To Kids." Also, the book is 18 pages, which is my family's lucky number. And, long, long ago, I once smoked a long pipe and spoke with dragons.

Seriously, I think this is an okay book, it's at least a way to teach the story to kids. Carol's story adds some young children in pivotal roles, to help kids feel engaged in the story. I sympathize with the complaints, that neither the author nor the illustrator are Korean, the story is told in an exoticized manner, and the illustrations lack authenticity. I guess they are drawn in that kind of pan-Asian style that is offensive if you know enough to pick up on it, but truthfully, not being Korean myself, I wasn't that aware of any specific inaccuracies in the drawing, such as dress and architecture as mentioned in other reviews, although I did have that tingly spidey-sense that the people in the pictures didn't actually look Korean. I imagined from the names of the authors that it was probably written from an outsider's perspective, I took it at face value as just a way to tell this historical story to children. I do agree that this betrays a condescending sort of dismissive, disinterested subtle racism, the kind we all absorb osmotically just living in our culture and not being critical and curious enough. There are lessons in that, and there are lessons, both obvious and subtle, in the historical tale being told, and at least the book does tell that story in a way that would interest kids. And it has a handy chart of the Korean alphabet on the back for beginners, so I don't know, mixed review.

In today's global world, publishers and illustrators can no longer get away with this kind of laziness and disrespect. No one would publish a story book set in Russia or France and illustrate it with people, clothing and buildings that look all wrong. One reviewer's claim that there are no "research pictures of 15th century life in Korea" is both ignorant and false. There is plenty of historical record that speaks of the clothing, customs and architecture of the day. Ten minutes' rudimentary research would have revealed innumerable visual sources that might have informed this work, including Korean paintings from the 15th century with many depictions of the costume, architecture and other details of the time. Instead, it appears that Mr. Jew felt free to do no research whatsoever. Apparently he figured no one would notice or care. It appears he doesn't even know where Korea is, exactly, as the fauna is all wrong for a temperate zone. No wonder people think the story is set in India... the vegetation in this book is tropical.

Another commenter claims we shouldn't keep the book from children "just because the illustrations don't suit you." Actually, it's a disservice to children to read them this book. It's not that the illustrations "don't suit" me; it's that they are an insult to the people and culture of Korea, the purported subject of this book. We who object to the book do so out of respect to the children, not out of some baseless personal peeve.

Illustrations absolutely do matter. These are called PICTURE books for a reason. Children learn at least as much from the illustrations as they do from the text. They pick up myriad clues about places, cultures and historical eras not only from illustration details (which should therefore obviously be absolutely correct) but from the artist's choices of palette, materials and style. This book fails on every count. Vote with your dollars, please.

Readers beware and do not buy the book. This book meets Eliot Singer's definition of multicultural fakelore. Yes, King Sejong is credited for inventing Korean Alphabet but this book is a fictional creation by the author and the traditional community is totally unaware of it. Korean Americans I know who have read and seen the book is equally horrified that this book is being sold as a Korean Legend when they have never heard of such story. Other reviewers talk only of how the story can inspire others and how wonderful the illustrations are ignoring the fact that it is titled as a traditional legend of Korea when it is not. The title should be changed. My excitement of finding a book about Korean Alphabet quickly turned into a huge dissapointment. Please vote with your wallet--do not waste your money.

It is a shame that there is apocryphal evidence of errors given for this book claiming that unnamed Koreans think this book is inaccurate with Yoo Kyung Sung, a scholar from South Korea includes this as the number one book in his list of children's books about Korea. See this link: [...]. I have found this book very valuable in introducing not only Korea and Hangul to students, but also the concept that literacy is an essential part of democracy. It is also a great way to talk about phonics and how strange English is!

It seems easy enough to combat the errors in the drawings with other pictures. This book deserves a higher rating.

As someone, who have attended dozens of children's book workshops, I would like to comment on some of the reviews posted here that condemn this book due to the illustrations. Once a story is sold to a pubisher, the author has absolutely NO say in their choice of illustrator. Therefore blaming the author for "bad" illustrations is a gross inaccuracy. The author's primary responsibility in writing a children's book is to make sure the text engages both young and mature audience. I thought the story was well-written with much sensitivity while celebrating the invention of the Korean alphabet. In regards to the illustrations, I think we should give iillustrator, Mr. Jew some credit. To tackle a story of this magnitude where there are no research pictures of 15th century life in Korea,is no small feat. I would have to imagine he used illustrations from other early masters for his research. I don't think the illustrations deserve such harsh critism-as I'm sure other published illustrators would probably not want to embark on a story that involves so much research. Long hours are also spent painting realistically which is a harder feat where you have to make the characters consistent from page to page. Overall, I think the book is worth the read because it is a fascinating look on the importance of literacy and the power of reading.

Most people are not aware that unless an author illustrates her own story she has absolutely no control over the choice of illustrator or the work they do. It is no fairer to blame the author for bad illustrations than to blame your cab driver for the rain that spoils your vacation. That said, the illustrations are lovely and they give a wonderful atmosphere to the story, even if they are not perfect representations of Korean dress during that period. This is a perfect introduction for small children to an amazing story. Who is to say that Carol Farley's King Sejong will fail to inspire a child to persevere in what they want to accomplish because of "inaccurate" pictures? There are too few books like this available to children - ones that expand their ideas of other cultures, histories, and possibilities. I cannot believe that it is right to refuse children the story of what one person can do to better the lives of the people around him or her simply because the illustrations don't suit you.

This wonderful story is set in 15th century Korea where literacy is not common knowledge among the many people in Korea. The story is about a king who comes across a young peasant boy making markings in the said. The young boy told the King (not knowing who he really was due to disguise) that he would like nothing more that to be able to read and write. The King was on a mission to create a language using sounds as the base, he created twenty-eight symbols. The elders in the community were scared that the gods would be angry with them if they do not use the complex Chinese language they have been, but the King new that his country needed their own language. After trials with the language he brought the proposal to the young boy who was ecstatic with he understood the new symbols.
The pictures in the story were my favorite part. They allowed 15th century Korea to come alive in the pages. Also in the back of the book the modern day Korean language was displayed. Allowing students to see what other forms of literacy look like.
I believe that the author had a wonderful point. The author wanted to emphasize that literacy is extremely important around the world, no matter what culture you were in.