WOW Dozen: Korean Books Translated Into English
Welcome abroad! This month's WOW dozen takes readers on a journey to Korea. Each picturebook and novel in this column were originally published in Korea and later translated into English. These titles are written by Korean authors who speak Korean and live in Korea. Rudine Sims Bishop's metaphor of mirrors and windows for multicultural children's literature is an an invaluable tenet when reading global children's literature too. Each book on this list introduces readers to the Korean culture as well as themes around imagination, love, loss and hope.
On a hot summer night, a granny saves apartment residents from the moon's melting heat & presents a new home to two unexpected guests.
A shy & lonely boy learns to sympathize with others & to reach out to his friends after discovering a bag of magical candies that whisper the inner thoughts of the surrounding people.
A brother & sister bake bread from the magical help of a piece of cloud they found stuck on a tree & deliver it to their father.
In this autobiographical picturebook, Gee-eun Lee recalls the heartful love her grandmother gave her when she was a child.
This writing mentor text shares alternative perspectives from the passengers on a Korean subway told from the perspective of the subway itself.
A young boy learns to understand the meaning of his grandfather's death as he observes familiar objects from his grandfather.
A mysterious door leads a boy into a magical world with an unknown language & creatures he has never seen before.
Two children who meet for the first time become friends in a very crowded pool & go on an adventure to explore the underwater world.
In this visual narrative, Suzy Lee manifests herself as a child skating on ice depicting the joy & struggle of her creative process.
A young girl spends the day at the beach where she & waves playfully chase one another.
While waiting for her mother to get a haircut, bored Minji mimics the hair stylist & attempts to give her dog a beautiful makeover.
Sprout, an infertile hen, escapes a farm & becomes a mother to an orphaned duckling who wishes to explore the world with his wings.
WOW Dozen features a list of 12 global books for children and adolescents around a theme, topic, issue or personal favorites. Each Dozen consists of ten newly-published titles with two older “must have” books. Please share or recommend additional books that fit the theme in the comments section or on social media using #WOWDozen. Use the printer icon in the upper left corner of this post to print or save this list as a PDF.
