My First Book of Korean Words

September 17, 2012
Simple couplets introduce 26 Korean words (shown in both English and Hangeul characters) in this engaging alphabetical introduction to the language. Since English letters don’t always have Korean equivalents, the authors provide Korean versions of English words for those letters: “V is for vegetables,/ the yachae on my plate./ Cabbage, carrot, zucchini—/ dessert has to wait” (“Korean doesn’t have a V sound, but Korea has plenty of vegetables,” reads an aside). Padrón’s atmospheric illustrations center on a cherubic Korean girl, her family, and her friends, as they demonstrate the popularity of chukgu (soccer), gimchi (aka kimchi), tae kwon do, and more. Ages 4–8.