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Children's Favorite Stories
Korean Children's Favorite Stories
This colorfully illustrated multicultural Korean children's book presents Indian fairy tales and other folk stories—providing insight into a vibrant literary culture.
Korean Children's Favorite Stories is a captivating collection of Korean folktales for children which are still being told, just as they have been for generations. Some are Korean-specific, while others echo those told in other countries. Written with wit and pathos, they unveil the inevitable foibles of people everywhere and expose the human-like qualities of animals and the animal-like qualities of humans.
These Korean fables pulsate with the rhythm of life and the seasons, transporting the reader to a wonderland where ants talk, a baby rabbit outwits a tiger, a tree fathers a child, and a toad saves a whole village.
Korean stories include:
The Story Bag
The Pheasant, the Dove, and the Magpie
The Bridegroom's Shopping
The Bad Tiger
The Great Flood
The Pumpkin Seeds
The Grateful Tiger
The Three Princesses
And more…
The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Asian Children's Favorite Stories, Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Filipino Favorite Children's Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China & Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Balinese Children's Favorite Stories, and Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories.
Korean Children's Favorite Stories is a captivating collection of Korean folktales for children which are still being told, just as they have been for generations. Some are Korean-specific, while others echo those told in other countries. Written with wit and pathos, they unveil the inevitable foibles of people everywhere and expose the human-like qualities of animals and the animal-like qualities of humans.
These Korean fables pulsate with the rhythm of life and the seasons, transporting the reader to a wonderland where ants talk, a baby rabbit outwits a tiger, a tree fathers a child, and a toad saves a whole village.
Korean stories include:
The Story Bag
The Pheasant, the Dove, and the Magpie
The Bridegroom's Shopping
The Bad Tiger
The Great Flood
The Pumpkin Seeds
The Grateful Tiger
The Three Princesses
And more…
The Children's Favorite Stories series was created to share the folktales and legends most beloved by children in the East with young readers of all backgrounds in the West. Other multicultural children's books in this series include: Asian Children's Favorite Stories, Indian Children's Favorite Stories, Indonesian Children's Favorite Stories, Japanese Children's Favorite Stories, Singapore Children's Favorite Stories, Filipino Favorite Children's Stories, Favorite Children's Stories from China & Tibet, Chinese Children's Favorite Stories, Balinese Children's Favorite Stories, and Vietnamese Children's Favorite Stories.
96 pages, Hardcover
First published March 1, 2004
33 people are currently reading
276 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
September 24, 2011
It's a good collection in its range, and I appreciate the fact that these retellings do not bend the tales I know out of recognition. Some translation-related things niggle at me, however. Why avoid naming the brothers Heung-bu and Nol-bu in "The Pumpkin Seeds," for example? (Why indeed call them pumpkin seeds--pumpkins are native to North America and, unlike other Cucurbita species, didn't exist in Korea till quite recently--instead of gourd seeds? Picky, picky me.) Regarding the brothers, however, omitting the names is nontrivial. In a sense, without those names you don't know you've read one of the most well-known stories in Korean culture.
June 26, 2020
I am so glad to know about so interesting stories. This stories are so similar to our assamese folktales.
July 20, 2020
3.75 stars
Enjoyed the art and some of the stories. Others were less engaging, but I don't think a rating is super useful in this case because the stories are so short and so much depends on a reader's personal preference. Bottom line: do I recommend this collection? Definitely!
CW: Animal violence/death
Enjoyed the art and some of the stories. Others were less engaging, but I don't think a rating is super useful in this case because the stories are so short and so much depends on a reader's personal preference. Bottom line: do I recommend this collection? Definitely!
CW: Animal violence/death
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April 13, 2024Did not finish- note that some of these traditional stories are more violent (my kids were upset that animals got killed)- they are more like Grimm’s fairy tales than sweet folk tales.
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January 29, 2021I was given a copy of Korean Children's Favorite Stories, Fables, Myths, and Fairy Tales,
by Kim So-un and illustrated by Jeong Kyoung-Sim, published by Tuttle, to review for Multicultural Children's Book Day.
This is a beautiful collection of 13 Korean fairy tales, and I am wowed. The book design and illustrations are lush and gorgeous, with an old-fashioned Korean art style that has a fresh twist.
The stories are fascinating, with echoes of fairy tales around the world - magic, quests, talking animals, while also having entirely unique Korean elements.
This will be an excellent resource for teachers, libraries, and readers
curious about traditional Korean stories, or for readers who just want to lap up the beautiful illustrations.
I love the opening lines from author Kim So-un: "Stories do not like to be hoarded. They like to be told and retold again and again, passing always from lip to lip. "
Korean folk stories told hundreds and thousands of years ago are still alive today. Magic.
by Kim So-un and illustrated by Jeong Kyoung-Sim, published by Tuttle, to review for Multicultural Children's Book Day.
This is a beautiful collection of 13 Korean fairy tales, and I am wowed. The book design and illustrations are lush and gorgeous, with an old-fashioned Korean art style that has a fresh twist.
The stories are fascinating, with echoes of fairy tales around the world - magic, quests, talking animals, while also having entirely unique Korean elements.
This will be an excellent resource for teachers, libraries, and readers
curious about traditional Korean stories, or for readers who just want to lap up the beautiful illustrations.
I love the opening lines from author Kim So-un: "Stories do not like to be hoarded. They like to be told and retold again and again, passing always from lip to lip. "
Korean folk stories told hundreds and thousands of years ago are still alive today. Magic.
August 28, 2018
This is a lovely book! The stories are a great length for reading out loud -- maybe ten to fifteen minutes. I didn't know any of them, but they all had a great, timeless feel. My only complaint is that I would have happily read more stories! But I guess it's not a huge complaint, as I immediately purchased another folklore book from the same publisher. It's a lovely volume. Hopefully I'll have a collection of these someday.
April 6, 2024
Korean Children's Favorite Stories
by Kim So-un, Jeing Kyoung-Sim
3 out out 5 stars
What a classic book from 2000s, yes. The interesting part on this book ofc is about the fairytales that are been told.
Some of the stories are indeed familiar or at least similar to some of fairytales that I ever heard or read.
Even though the illustration is still so simple, the stories that been told felt fresher and made me get to know from the Korean perspective.
by Kim So-un, Jeing Kyoung-Sim
3 out out 5 stars
What a classic book from 2000s, yes. The interesting part on this book ofc is about the fairytales that are been told.
Some of the stories are indeed familiar or at least similar to some of fairytales that I ever heard or read.
Even though the illustration is still so simple, the stories that been told felt fresher and made me get to know from the Korean perspective.
July 4, 2017
These stories were short and cute, though ever so slightly bizarre.
I feel that there is something lost in translation, though not speaking Korean I can not read originals, however I feel they are also purposefully condensed .
Quick read whether reading each story separately or all of them in one go.
I feel that there is something lost in translation, though not speaking Korean I can not read originals, however I feel they are also purposefully condensed .
Quick read whether reading each story separately or all of them in one go.
April 6, 2018
I can’t help but feel that these stories were so condensed that things were lost in translation and important pieces of the stories were cut out. That being said, some of these stories were original and charming, while others seemed a bit repetitive, harping on the same lesson: be kind to others and you will be rewarded.
February 9, 2023
95 pgs. A beautiful collection of tales from Korea. The illustrations are outstanding watercolor depictions of everything from peasants to tigers. Kids will enjoy reading these stories and may see elements that remind them of other folktales they have heard in different cultures. My two favorite stories were The Bad Tiger and The Great Flood. Highly recommended for Grades 2-5.
March 3, 2023
This was a delightful journey into the folk tales of another culture, filling out some of the references made in the South Korean television shows I've binged on over the last year. There are some similarities to stories in other cultures and others are entirely unique (from my perspective).
May 31, 2017
These are wonderfully written stories with lovely illustrations to go with them. This is going to be a great present for a family member.
July 5, 2019
3.5 🌟!
Sweet stories to read for children and to teach them some values 💛
Sweet stories to read for children and to teach them some values 💛
April 27, 2023
A great collection of stories.
December 11, 2023
Korean Children's Favorite Stories by Kim So-un and illustrated by Joeng Kyoung-Sim is a collection of Korean folklore intended for children of a wide variety of ages, spanning as young as 5 to as old as 14. The stories span a wide variety of topics but are typically based on magic or fantastical elements like talking animals.
I enjoyed the stories in the collection a lot. I liked "The Bad Tiger" a lot since the premise of a tiger stealing radishes from an old lady and using her bathroom was really funny to me. "Three Little Girls" had a somewhat similar plot to Little Red Riding Hood and had themes that could be teaching moments for kids. The illustrations looked like they came straight out of an old Korean text or painting. While the illustrations never dominated the entire page as a picture book, they supported the story's narrative.
I think young readers would be interested in the book because of the different cultures and the chance to learn about different aspects of it. I could see this used in a classroom to teach students about different bedtime/children's stories from other cultures, and seeing what is similar and what is different.
I enjoyed the stories in the collection a lot. I liked "The Bad Tiger" a lot since the premise of a tiger stealing radishes from an old lady and using her bathroom was really funny to me. "Three Little Girls" had a somewhat similar plot to Little Red Riding Hood and had themes that could be teaching moments for kids. The illustrations looked like they came straight out of an old Korean text or painting. While the illustrations never dominated the entire page as a picture book, they supported the story's narrative.
I think young readers would be interested in the book because of the different cultures and the chance to learn about different aspects of it. I could see this used in a classroom to teach students about different bedtime/children's stories from other cultures, and seeing what is similar and what is different.
May 3, 2017
Neither Korean nor a child, I think I'm not qualified to review this book, honestly. Still, I'll try my best to conjure up what 4-5 year old me would have felt about this book.
First off, it's a great relief that these aren't those good-goody stories that patronise kids as incapable of handling or understanding the negative human emotions such as pain, anger, jealousy, loss, hatred and death. The stories are varied and whimsical, and if the person reading them out is even half decent at story telling, I think the kids can have a great time. The morals are also vague, if even there, and are never shoved down the throats of the audience. For this, I have gratitude and respect for both, Korean folklore and the author.
Some of the cultural nuances are lost in translation, for example, the king declaring a "treasure of rice". Rice was the only source of daily nutrition and in medieval Korea it was not abundant. Without this context. the whole affair would seem stupid to a child. Hence, like I said, the person reading out to kids makes a lot of difference.
Read independently, I would say that most kids could do much better than this book. However, the moody, outliers and ones with artistic curiousity will really like this.
First off, it's a great relief that these aren't those good-goody stories that patronise kids as incapable of handling or understanding the negative human emotions such as pain, anger, jealousy, loss, hatred and death. The stories are varied and whimsical, and if the person reading them out is even half decent at story telling, I think the kids can have a great time. The morals are also vague, if even there, and are never shoved down the throats of the audience. For this, I have gratitude and respect for both, Korean folklore and the author.
Some of the cultural nuances are lost in translation, for example, the king declaring a "treasure of rice". Rice was the only source of daily nutrition and in medieval Korea it was not abundant. Without this context. the whole affair would seem stupid to a child. Hence, like I said, the person reading out to kids makes a lot of difference.
Read independently, I would say that most kids could do much better than this book. However, the moody, outliers and ones with artistic curiousity will really like this.
July 18, 2014
This was a cute book with some meaningful lessons, though its target audience is clearly a younger age group than the one I'm a part of. I wasn't able to fully enjoy it due to its simplistic writing style, nevertheless it contains beautiful drawings and sweet tales. Still worth my time, I can certainly learn a thing or two from fables...
January 16, 2016
13 stories from Korea: The story bag -- The pheasant, the dove, and the magpie -- The bridegroom's shopping -- The bad tiger -- The great flood -- The pumpkin seeds -- The tiger and the rabbit -- The green leaf -- The three little girls -- The snake and the toad -- The grateful tiger -- The three princesses -- The disowned student.
November 9, 2013
Timeless children's stories that reflect Korea's past with messages for today teaching kindness and mercy. "Korean Children's Favorite Stories" is an enjoyable read that children and adults of all ages can enjoy.
March 10, 2016
It was hard to enjoy these stories as they involved a lot of scary subjects, and hard to believe they are read to Korean children! I can honestly say I did not enjoy reading them at all. I'm wondering if something was lost in the translation.
May 9, 2020
I liked a lot of the children stories. I think that because of the cultural differences, and some of the expectations or hidden meanings, that is why I didn’t give it a higher review. Still, the stories were short and sweet.
August 10, 2009
Very interesting look into part of the Korean culture through children's stories.
April 1, 2016
This was a really interesting read.
November 12, 2015
I wish it had my favorite story about the disobedient frog.
October 30, 2014
in "The Pumpkin Seeds," a pair of brothers-one proud, one humble-who get their just desserts.
Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews