Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars

by Sheri Holman

Book Overview

In a series of messages placed in her grandmother's ancestral jar, a seventh century princess and future ruler of the Korean kingdom of Silla vents her frustration at not being permitted to study... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0439165865
• ISBN13: 9780439165860
• Release Date: June 2002
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 187 Pages
• Weight: 0.67 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.4" x 7.7"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

The Royal Diaries have not got it yet Sondok princess of the moon and stars

I have not received this book yet and it say I did I did get my other books just not this one 'Sondok: princess of the moon and stars'

A book of astronomic quality!

In ancient Asia, females, as a general rule, were not allowed to rule. They could only be the wives of kings and emperors. However, in Silla in 595, it's a girl who is heir apparent to the throne of Silla (now called South Korea). Fourteen-year-old Sondok has no brothers and her mother is too old to have any more children. Her father's brothers are all dead and they didn't have any sons either. Thus, it is she who must inherit the throne. Sondok thinks she's up to the job. She comes across as forthright and intelligent as she writes in her diary. She's especially fascinated by astronomy, and displays her skill at it by correctly predicting an eclipse. Unfortunately this earns her the wrath of the Chinese ambassador, also an astronomer, who predicted the wrong date. "Astronomy is not for women," Lin Fang says. "Go do something female like look after silkworms." Sondok tries to win him over, but he is unmoved. Worse yet, her father agrees with the ambassador and forbids his daughter to study the moon and stars! This is the principal conflict in this narrative. There are some others: Sondok's father casts aside his old wife and takes a new, younger one whom he hopes will bear him a son. Sondok is in love with someone whom she cannot marry, as he is below her station, and when he goes off to be a Buddhist monk she wonders if she'll ever see him again. She wonders a lot about religions: Korean Buddhism vs. Chinese Confucianism. Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars is one of my favorite books in the royal diaries, entertaining and quite historically accurate. I'd recommend it to young girls nine and up, especially those interested in Korean culture and astronomy.

Sondok,Princess of the Moon and Stars,Korea,A.D.595

This was a delightfully enjoyable book. The adventure, astronomyand the courage she shared in her journal(,even if some was fictionally written,)gave the reader a fantasy which they wish they could live just like Sondok's life.

Sondok: Princess of the Moon and Stars

This book is about Princess Sondok. Because her mother wasn't able to bore a son, Sondok was chosen as heir to the throne. The young princess dreams of building an astronomical tower, but her father refuses for she is a girl. She tries to befriend the arrogant Chinese ambassador, Lord Lin Fang, but he finds it impossible and strange for a woman to rule in her own right. While Lin Fang stays, he is asked to teach Sondok and her sisters about Confucianism when they are Buddhist. A problem brews so she decides to go to a mudang, a shaman, as her last resort.I just finished this book a few hours ago. I thought it was terrific! Since I am Korean, I was really eager to get it and read through its pages. The problem is, there's a bit of wrong information in there. Like the part about the hwarangs practicing Tae Kwon Do (which is pronounced tek-kwon-do, BTW). Hwarangs practiced Um Yang Kwon!!!!! Plus, Tae Kwon Do wasn't even made then!! It was born hundreds of years later! And chima? It's a dress. The ladies of the court wore hanboks! Well, at least I was able to read the Korean correctly. Anyway, even if it had a bit of wrong info, the story was great!

Sondok: Princess of the Moon & Stars,Korea, 595 A.D.

This Book is about Sondok,Princess of Silla(present day South Korea). Sondok has a lot of troubles for a 14 year old girl.Her mother becomes a nun and leaves her because she failed to produce a male heir. Sondok has a dream to build a observetory. But because of her gender, it is forbidden. Oh,and she is also the future Queen of Silla. Sondok was the first Queen to rule in her own right. If you like this book I Guarantee you will like Lady of Ch'iao Kuo, Warrior of the South, Southern China, 531 A.D. This book is about Princess Red Bird. She is 16 years old. She is Princess of The Hesian People in southern China.

Sondok, Princess of the Moon and Stars

This is a book about a 14 year old Korean princess who, because of her mothers failure to bear a son, is the heir to her kingdom's throne. Sondok has a dream of building a great stargazing tower for she has a love of astronamy, although, because of her gender her father forbids her to measure or calculate the stars. From the haughty Chinese Lord Lin Fang who comes to teach her and her sisters the wisdom of Confucsism to her fear of the spirit possesed mudangs, this book is filled with adventure and the thoughts of a girl who is easy to relate to. This is a fabulous book.