lydia_bryant 's review for:

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

5.0

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

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The Name Jar was written and illustrated by Yangsook Choi and published in 2003. This book was written for the age group of five to nine-year-olds. This book is about Unhei (pronounced Yoon-Hey) leading all she knows in Korea to move to the United States. When she comes to the United States, she is very anxious about starting school her first interaction with the children on the bus isn't a good one as none of them can pronounce her name. They start making fun of her name, which makes her feel terrible. When Unhei arrives in her classroom, she decides to give herself an American name. So she tells everyone in class she hasn't picked a name yet, so the class starts a name jar. The jar is filled with American names suggested by the other children in the class. Unhei reads many names but can't decide which name to choose. This is a fantastic immigration picture book as it allows the reader to glimpse someone coming from a foreign country into our world and having to start over. This is a great book to read at the beginning of the school year when you're trying to help students understand that there may be new kids in the classroom or school that are struggling to adjust and how we need to use our best efforts to help them feel welcomed.<Immigration Picture Book><adventurous><emotional><hopeful><inspiring><lighthearted>