A very interesting book to read with my children in primary/elementary. Had lovely pictures and details about korean culture and ideas for various craft and games. ( )

As the author writes in the beginning of this picture book for young readers, “Holidays and festivals are a great way to experience Korean culture - and they’re fun!”

Cho starts by explaining generally what Koreans celebrate and about traditional clothing worn for festivities.

Then she takes on each major holiday through the year individually, beginning with the New Year. For each holiday, she tells readers about the food, games, and activities common to the celebrations. Often she includes Korean words along with translations.

I was particularly interested to learn there are several, not one, days to celebrate love: not just Valentine’s Day on February 14, but also White Day on March 14 and Black Day on April 14. In addition, “The Festival of Love” on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month is similar to the Star Festival celebrated in Japan, which commemorates the story of two stars in love but residing at opposite ends of the heavens; they are, however, allowed to cross paths once a year, on this date.

Often the author includes easy, kid-friendly instructions for games, dances, decorations, and crafts, such as making paper fans. She also takes the opportunities of holidays to explain some history and culture of Korea (mainly South Korea), including what the flag means, and what the national flower symbolizes.

Korea also has a Thanksgiving Day to honor the harvest, and in this section you will learn how to make half-moon rice cakes.

Korea has an Alphabet Day celebrating the creation of their language, and the author includes letters both in Korean and transliterated, as well as a list of words to practice on.

After the national festivals, the book includes some coverage of local festivals, including an ice festival in the north, a mask festival, a green tea festival, firefly festival, cherry blossom festival, and even a mud festival.

Illustrations by Farida Zaman are clear and colorful, framing depictions of Korean culture in a way that focuses on appeal to kids.

Evaluation: This book is chock-full of information on Korean culture, and would make a welcome addition to any kid’s education. ( )

I received this book as part of a book review giveaway for Multicultural Children's Book Day (https://multiculturalchildrensbookday.com/). All thoughts are my own.

This book is a beautiful introduction to Korean celebrations. The book walks the reader through a year of celebrations.
The descriptions including the history of various holidays, games and activities and crafts, clothing, food, and other important aspects of the celebrations. Words that are written in Korean also have an English phonetic translation to help with pronunciation. The illustrations are bright and fun! ( )