Children’s Book Week is celebrated twice a year, one week in May and one week in November. Kids everywhere can join in the fun of Children’s Book Week. The How Do You Book? Challenge asks young readers to explore what they read, how they read, and where they read. For more information about Children’s Book Week, click HERE. This week, I’ll be sharing several books in celebration of Children’s Book Week. Click HERE to see previous Children’s Book Week Posts.
MY GRANDMOM
By: Gee-eun Lee
Translated by: Sophie Bowman
Published: November 15, 2022
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids
Fiction
Gee-eun Lee wrote this story based on her own memories and beloved relationship with own Grandma. Her parents worked many hours, so her days were spent with her Grandmom she called Halmoni.
Gee-eun Lee’s illustrations are right from her own memories and kids will relate to the simple, child-like style of drawings. As Gee-eun spends her days with her grandmom, she misses her mom and dad. But Grandmom finds ways to keep them busy including making noodles. When Family Sports Day arrives, Gee-eun was expecting her mom to compete with her, but instead, she has to compete with Grandmom.
Even though the Family Sports Day doesn’t go as Gee-eun planned, they celebrate with curry buns and by making a special dinner to share when her parents return from work. Gee-eun realizes her time with her grandmom is a blessing and this book is written to honor her great love for Halmoni. Grandmom’s love for Gee-eun shines on the pages and you know that Gee-eun’s life was blessed to have Halmoni in her life. Since this original story was written in Korean, Sophie Bowman’s translation to English is smooth and the dialogue makes for an excellent read-aloud.
Many grandparents have special relationships with their grandchildren, watching them while the parents work or maybe even living in the same home as their children and grandchildren. Celebrate that special relationship through this wonderful tribute to all Grandmoms.
Gee-eun Lee is an award-winning Korean author/illustrator. She recently won the prestigious BolognaRagazzi Award in the comics category for her book, The Story of How the Korean Shaved Ice Dessert Was Born and is also a top winner of the Korean Young Illustrator Award. She studied design and illustration in Korea and the UK. Her first picture book, Paper Dad, was made into a children’s musical in Korea. My GrandMom is the second book she both wrote and illustrated and is based on her own grandmother.
Sophie Bowman is a Ph.D. student at the University of Toronto, studying Korean literature. She was awarded the ICF Literature Translation Fellowship at Ewha Woman’s University. In 2015, she won the Korea Times Modern Korean Literature Translation Award grand prize for poetry with her translations of Jin Eun-young and co-translated Kim Bo-Young’s I’m Waiting for You and Other Stories. She recently translated the picture book Magic Candies by Heena Baek, which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.
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Thanks to the publisher for sending a copy of this book for the purpose of this review. This review is my honest opinion. If you choose to make a purchase through the above links, I may receive a small commission without you having to pay a cent more for your purchase.
Posted Under Book Review, Children's Book Week, Children's books, fiction, Gee-eun Lee, grandparenting, Korean, Sophie Bowman