Customer Reviews

The Tigers of the Kumgang Mountains: A Korean Folktale

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Folktales carry cultural messages that reflect the acceptable behaviors of the time. Sometimes, as in this case, the stories do not translate as socially correct behavior hundreds of years later. Many times, the tales are retold in current days in a new or modified form to be appropriate for the times. The wolf no longer eats Red Riding Hood, for example.

In this case, I believe most parents would not want to read this picture book to their children. A hunter thinks that a priest is really a tiger dressed up (or transformed?) as a priest, so he shoots and kills the priest. For the same reason, the hunter shoots and kills an old woman, a young girl, and a young man. In each case, after the person is killed, the dead body turns into a tiger.

I understand the heritage of folklore, and would find this tale -- which has an interesting ending -- entertaining in an adult study of Asian legends, but I don't recommend it in the form of a children's picture book.

A delightful tale of persistence, sacrifice, and things are not always what they seem. Beautifully illustrated and presented.