Goyangi Means Cat

March 14, 2011
The experience of being adopted by parents who speak another language is vividly portrayed in McDonnell's (Dog Wants to Play) account of the first weeks of a Korean child's life in a new country. Johnson and Fancher (A Boy Named FDR) dwell on the safe, comfortable home that Soo Min's American parents offer her; their collages highlight the colorful textiles that decorate the walls and furniture. Yet this warmth is no consolation for Soo Min, whose new parents know only "a few Korean words." Simple words (family, home, cat, etc.) appear in Korean within the artwork, making patterns that contrast with those in the house, just as Soo Min's language contrasts with theirs. "Goyangi," the word for cat, becomes the Siamese cat's new name; Soo Min lavishes attention on it, and when it disappears, she's inconsolable. "She cried for Goyangi. She cried for Korea. So many tears." But when Goyangi returns, Soo Min speaks her first English sentenceâ"Goyangi home." By facing head-on the difficulties that can sometimes accompany adoption, the book provides a sensitive depiction of an experience that readersâor their friendsâmay have gone through themselves. Ages 3â8.

Starred review from April 15, 2011

This beautifully illustrated, gentle adoption story stands out from most other treatments of the topic by honestly and reassuringly addressing the loss—of a birth family, a birth culture—inherent in adoption as well as the joy a new family experiences.

Here, Soo Min, a young Korean girl, is adopted by an American couple. Everything seems strange and new: She doesn't speak any English; her adoptive parents know little Korean. She finds comfort with Goyangi ("cat"), who doesn't need language to communicate, whose fur she strokes when afraid and who "licked her hand with his towelly tongue" when she is homesick for Korea. Soft-focus collage-and-paint illustrations show the family members getting to know one another: at the playground, in the library, playing soccer and just spending time at home together. Korean words in hanja (characters) incorporated into the pictures' backgrounds and the presence of Korean words in the Western alphabet interspersed throughout the text make this an excellent choice to share with children like Soo Min; seeing the words in both languages comforts as well as educates. Soo Min's age isn't specified; she looks about 2 or 3, which is older than most Korean children adopted in the United States, but that doesn't take away from the main idea.

A sensitive portrayal of international adoption, authentically and realistically done. (Picture book. 4-7)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

Starred review from July 1, 2011

K-Gr 3-Soo Min's adoptive parents do all the right things. They learn and use many Korean words, and they decorate their home in patterns echoing East and West, but the food is strange to the child. So are Apah's beard and Omah's light eyes. Luckily, the child has Goyangi. Going home from the park, the library, or her new school is, in Soo Min's mind, going to the cat. Yet just as her love for the animal seems to ease her acculturation, it runs away. This loss proves too much for her. "She cried for Goyangi. She cried for Korea. So many tears. Omah held her and rocked her." This story of a small cat's role in Soo Min's transition is universal. But what makes this picture book so special is the integration of the Korean transliterated words into the text, and even into the art. There are words painted in Korean on each page, not in boldface, but integrated into the collage and oil illustrations and echoed throughout the story. Youngsters reading this book will learn a handful of Korean words. This title is an inspiration to the depth of communication and shared language that form the basis of cultural understanding.-Sara Lissa Paulson, American Sign Language and English Lower School PS 347, New York City

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

May 1, 2011
Preschool-G Simple words and gentle, soft-toned pictures tell this story, true to a young childs viewpoint, about a Korean girl who is adopted by a white American family. At first, the text and images show how Soo Min feels like a stranger in a home in which people do not look like her and cannot speak her language, and she doesnt know any English. Her close bond is with the family cat, which she names Goyangi. Then Goyangi goes missing, and Soo Min cries for the cat and for Korea until Goyangi comes home, and at last, Soo Min feels as if she does, too. Its the storys honesty about how hard Soo Mins adjustment is that makes her final homecoming so moving. The beautiful, patterned art in paper collage and acrylic and oil paint nicely echoes the texts emotions; Soo Mins body language, particularly, shows the pain of being a child alone in a strange world. The messages are never heavy, and kids will relate to the universal themes of family and finding home.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)