Land of the Dragon King and Other Korean Stories

by Gillian McClure

The sea hasn't always been salty, and rabbits haven't always had fluffy tails. How the sea grew salty, pigs got their short snouts and rabbits their fluffy tails is revealed in this sparkling... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1845078055
• ISBN13: 9781845078058
• Release Date: September 2008
• Publisher: Lincoln Children's Books
• Length: 64 Pages
• Weight: 1.14 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.6" x 11.2"
• Age Range: 4 to 7 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 2

Customer Reviews

Sufficient

I think this book is sufficient for those who want to read Korean stories in English. The grammar isn't bad like some of the other cultural books translated into English. But it does change the story a little bit to make it easier to translate or easier for children to understand. For example, if I remember correctly, it flows through the story of flooding earth due to excessive raining from a couple who couldn't be united over milky way then birds help to lay a bridge across for them to meet. The real Korean version also talks about how two types of birds helped, one is blue jay and another is raven/crow. And around that time of the year (Lunar calendar 7/7), I believe one of those birds or both birds in Korea start losing a bit of feather around their head or it turns pale or what not, and it's because they got "stepped" on when they were made into a bridge, etc. Also, it does rain a lot during summer in Korea so the story takes account of the local weather as well (ex: California, summer's considered dry season and to children here, that wouldn't really make sense). Stories in this book leave out a lot of details for one reason or another that I cannot really imagine, I think it's because it is hard to explain all that to a child who don't really live in that culture so they just decided to leave out those details. But if you just want to familiarize your children with cultural stories, this is a nice book. And not many gruesome endings like a lot of supposedly children's books (such as andersen stories - I love those stories, but it is true that those stories were intended for adults when they were first written). So the quality of stories is pretty good. I just wish it related more closely (in detail) with the original versions.

A special gift

We have an 18 month old grandson who was adopted from Korea. On the occasion of his becoming an American Citizen, we purchased this book as a gift. His parents want to preserve his Korean heritage, so this special book seemed appropriate. Although it is geared to an older child, we feel that he will appreciate the stories in the future. The book is nicely illustrated, and although I did not have the time to read the entire book, the passages which I did get a chance to read seemed interesting.