Dear Juno

by Soyung Pak, Susan Kathleen Hartung (Illustrations)

Juno's grandmother writes in Korean and Juno writes in drawings, but that doesn't mean they can't exchange letters. From the photo his grandmother sends him, Juno can tell that she has a new cat. From the picture he makes for her, Juno's grandmother can tell that he wants her to come for a visit. So she sends Juno a miniature plane, to let him know she's on the way. This tender tale won the author an Ezra Jack Keats award, and is a perfect introduction to the concept of foreign cultures and far-off lands.

Genres: Picture Books, Family, Childrens, Cultural, Fiction, Writing, Asia

32 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 1999

Reviews

[Karissa Knauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book, "Dear Juno", is a heartfelt book about a boy named Juno who sends letters back and forth with his grandma who lives in Seoul, Korea. Juno cannot read his grandma's written language which means his parents usually read the letters to him. This time was different as his grandma sent a picture of her cat and a red and yellow flower. Juno, without having to read the letter, understands more than he thought as the picture and flower tell him so much. By the end of the book, he sends his grandma pictures he drew and a leaf from his swinging tree. I loved the emotional side this book brought out, emphasizing the strength of family love even when Juno couldn't understand what his grandma wrote. #Ownvoices is a movement that emphasizes the importance of diversity in children's literature. #Ownvoices is also a way for diverse authors to celebrate themselves and their characters. I loved the connection this book made to Soyung Pak's (the author) life. Soyung Pak grew up in Philadelphia and as a kid, she always sat outside and watched airplanes soar across the sky, pretending that her grandmother was coming from Korea. Juno in the book also looks up at the airplanes in the sky and hopes that his grandmother from Korea is coming to visit him. Books like "Dear Juno" need to be in more classrooms around the world because the diversity seen in classrooms today should be matched with a diverse selection of literature for students to choose from. The #ownvoices movement allows authors to tell their own stories in connection to their diverse identities, and "Dear Juno" allowed Soyung Pak to tell her own story in a fun-loving way.

[QNPoohBear · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute, simple story for young listeners about a boy of Korean heritage who finds a way to read and write letters from/to his grandmother without having to wait for his busy parents to translate. This story is very cute and sweet. It stresses the importance of communication between the generations and cultures even when they don't seem to speak the same language. Juno and his grandmother discover they both love plants and animals. It's refreshing to see how Juno loves his grandmother even though she lives very far away and how eager he is to write to her. The illustrations are nice enough but nothing special. I'm not sure the illustrator is of Asian descent but the author sent her tons of pictures of the family's village in Korea for inspiration. Bonus stars for the dog, Sam, who looks JUST like my "little cousin" Sammie the Cairn Terrier. (Ours was wheat colored with dark brown ear tips and muzzle).

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juno gets a letter written in Korean from his grandmother. Even though he can't read the letter himself, he knows what she's saying to him because of the items she included in the letter. He decides to draw picture to "write" her back.

In addition to addressing the topic of communicating with family members living in another country, this book adroitly shows how young children begin to make sense of writing. The message of the book is that the desire to communicate with loved ones is a powerful motivator that transcends language and literacy skills.

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was the book that made it home this week with the new elementary reading program. It's simple, but quite enjoyable and tells the story a little boy in America who communicates with his Korean grandmother even theough they can not read each others' languages. My daughter wanted to know more about the grandmother when we were done.

[Ruel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A quiet, touching tale of a Korean-American boy bonding with his grandmother through the written word. Juno receives a letter from his grandmother, but cannot read Korean. As he soon discovers, however, there's more than one way to communicate: a way that is more meaningful when shared with your family.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very sweet story about a little boy who communicates with his South Korean grandmother by mailing pictures back and forth. Beautiful illustrations.

[Kayla Brecheen · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a realistic Fiction story book, Dear Juno won the Notable Children's Books in the Language Arts Award, 1997-2021 and recommends K – 2 grade children. Pak's story is economically told and sensitively focused through Juno's eyes. The story is that Juno's grandmother writes in Korean, and Juno writes in drawings, but that doesn't mean they can't exchange letters. From the photo his grandmother sends him, Juno can tell that she has a new cat. From the picture he makes for her, Juno's grandmother can tell that he wants her to come for a visit. So, she sends Juno a miniature plane to let him know she's on the way. Sometimes immigration means not being able to communicate with grandmother or grandson because it builds a language barrier. Living in a different country, often, a new generation doesn’t learn their ancestor’s language. But in this warm story reminds my kids and my parents too; it's hard to understand communication each other perfectly, but the messages that can be conveyed without words, language differences between generations, and family ties across great distances are gently and affectingly handled in this book. This tender tale is a perfect introduction to the concept of various home background and cultures diversity. The illustrations, done in oil-paint glazes in compositions that are both well designed and touching. Children not yet ready to read on their own (and their far-off grandparents) will find this book especially useful.

[Ashleigh Best · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Dear Juno" is a great book to use to explain cultures to young children. Since the book is based in Korea, there are many differences in Juno and his family compared to students and their families in the United States, for example. Juno loved his grandma and awaited her letters each time she sent them. However, his grandmother lived in a different area than Juno. So, the letters were all he had from his grandmother. Unfortunately, Juno is unable to read the language in which his grandmother speaks, so he has to have his parents read the letters for him. It is obvious that he yearns to learn to read the language. Although he does not learn the language in the book, Juno uses his best educated guess when looking at his grandmother's letters and often makes correct inferences, based on the objects that she sends with the letters. This is a great example to use for young children. This book can be related to learning the cultures of others or it can be related to learning to make inferences in many situations. Either way, this book is great to read with children and would be great in a children's library.

[Jenna Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

Summary:
This is a story about a young boy who writes back and forth with his grandmother. She lives in a different country and speaks a different language so they communicate through pictures and drawing.

Writing Trait:
Word choice - This story has many descriptive words and sentences to help the reader connect with each word. "Juno watched as the red and white blinking lights soars across the night sky like shooting stars, and waited as they disappeared into faraway places.

Mentor Text: I would use this text when students are learning about writing letters. The book would be a fun way to introduce writing and receiving letters - and that they can sometimes just be pictures or drawings.

Reading level: 3.4

[Lizzy Zuviri · Rating 3 out of 5]

Realistic, sweet, family, picture book

Dear Juno is a sweet book by a little boy named Juno. He receives a letter in the mail from his grandma in Korea. Eager to open the letter knowing he was unable to read it, he attempted. He put the context clues together and was able to find out what his grandmother told him. He decided to write back by drawing pictures. Juno and his grandmother continued writing to each other.

The genre selected for Dear Juno is realistic fiction. Dear Juno is a fictional tale because the characters in the book are not characters based on real-life people. It is all made up. The story and details are all realistic and something that could happen in real life. It can draw people's attention because it is a story that some people may relate to.

[Regan Brakebush]

This was neat. It was about a Korean-American boy who did not know Korean. He receives a letter in hangul from his grandmother and decides to write her back by drawing pictures for her. It is sweet how people can learn to communicate through art and imagery. It is nice that it showed a boy who did not read Korean, as many books that depict Korean-American children make it seem like most of them can read hangul. He might speak it, but he doesn't know how to read it and I'm sure there are many other children in that same boat.

[RUTHC]

The touching tale of a grandmother's and grandson's love between far places is unfolded. Children learn that there are forms of communication than spoken language. I am grateful for the reminder of how unique letter exchange is now. Going back to the fundamentals in this day of technology advancements might bring back recollections of earlier times when life was more meaningful despite being simpler. A read aloud for 2nd graders, this can open their minds on different communication with loves ones who are far.

[Eunbi Park · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a Korean American boy who miss his grandmother. They speak in another languages each other. But Juno clearly found the way to communicate with his grandmother and it is drawing the picture. I fell in love with this story. It is really touching becuase my heart become warm when I think of my grandmother. However, I'd like to know more story at the end. That's a shame but I enjoyed this story.

[Sohyun seo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sometimes, many children are awkward with their grandpartents in Korea. Juno and his grandmother are very far but they don't look like awkward. They can guess something what happens and what they want by watching photos and pictures. I like this book because it makes children create a very good relationship with their grandparents.

[Hannah Cussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Genre: Contemporary Realistic Fiction
1st-3rd grade
I thought this book was cute. It was sweet the way Juno figured out how to connect to his grandmother who lived in Korea. Juno is creative and insightful when he figures out how he can communicate with his grandma without words. It made me think about all the different ways people can connect without knowing each other's languages.

[Lindsay Niebuhr · Rating 4 out of 5]

Juno and his grandmother love writing letters to each other. Juno sends drawings and his grandmother sends letters in Korean with some photos. One day she even sends a miniature airplane to let Juno know that she is coming to visit.

[Christina Reid · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story about a grandson communicating with his Korean grandmother through pictures because he cannot (yet) read in Korean. Adding it to my collection of books for promoting positive attiudes towards multicultural and multilingual families.

[SaraKat · Rating 4 out of 5]

A lovely picture book showing that people who love each other can communicate without words. Juno is adorable "reading" his letter and "writing" his response. I hope all kids have grandmothers as nice as this one.

[Ashley Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have been sharing this book with students for the past fifteen years. The correspondence between Juno and his Grandmother is sweet. The artwork is enchanting, and readers get a glimpse of South Korean culture.

[Ms. Martinez · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the way the author showed how you don't have to know how to write to send a letter. Students loved making inferences about the story. Our class used this book to help us practice asking questions about the text we are reading.

[Melissa the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lovely story about the bond between a grandchild and grandparent. Also illustrates to parents that "writing" can be more than just words on a page. Encourages children to use all their senses and critical thinking skills. And it's just a cute book!

[Jessie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story about a grandson and grandmother corresponding without words (through items and pictures) and understanding each other perfectly.

[Anthony · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of a young boy, and how he and his grandmother communicate with each other across the miles.

[Gretchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very sweet story about a young Korean boy in America receiving and writing letters to his grandma in Korea. Juno uses context clues to understand her letters, and responds with lovely drawings.

[Anneke Forzani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sweet story of a boy writing to his grandmother in Korea Beautiful illustrations.

[Kris Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love Grandma stories!

[Patrice · Rating 4 out of 5]

BookTree
S&E really enjoyed learning about writing letters

[Deby Perkins]

A lovely book about two different generations with a language barrier communicate with each other through pictures and drawings.

[Mrs Heet -Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

A lovely book about a young boy and how he is able to communicate with his grandmother a world away in Korea.

[Taylor Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book for learning about relationship skills. You get to see how he communicates with his grandma.