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A review by anyaemilie
The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story by Tina Cho
4.0
Thank you to Kokila Books for the ARC!
This book is a beautifully illustrated story about haenyeo, the female free divers who catch food for their families and communities off the coast of Jeju Island in South Korea.
The main character, Dayeon, is a young girl who wants to become a haenyeo like her grandmother. The haenyeo are often compared to mermaids, which Dayeon loves.
This is a very sweet story of a young girl learning about her community's culture and history through her grandmother, who lives that culture every day. It shows the importance of learning from our elders, and that the younger generations of children are still interested in things like free diving despite more advanced technologies.
I love the illustrations in this book, and my favorite one is a page where Dayeon and her grandmother are walking through a field towards the beach. Their shadows trail behind them on the field in the shape of mermaid tails, giving these women a somewhat mythical quality.
I think this story is an important one, because it teaches children about a small part of Korean culture that most Americans probably do not know about. It will help Korean-American children see themselves represented in a book by a major publisher, and it will help educate non-Korean children about an important cultural practice in South Korea. I love stories about underrepresented people and places, so this is a fantastic addition to Kokila's repertoire.
This book is a beautifully illustrated story about haenyeo, the female free divers who catch food for their families and communities off the coast of Jeju Island in South Korea.
The main character, Dayeon, is a young girl who wants to become a haenyeo like her grandmother. The haenyeo are often compared to mermaids, which Dayeon loves.
This is a very sweet story of a young girl learning about her community's culture and history through her grandmother, who lives that culture every day. It shows the importance of learning from our elders, and that the younger generations of children are still interested in things like free diving despite more advanced technologies.
I love the illustrations in this book, and my favorite one is a page where Dayeon and her grandmother are walking through a field towards the beach. Their shadows trail behind them on the field in the shape of mermaid tails, giving these women a somewhat mythical quality.
I think this story is an important one, because it teaches children about a small part of Korean culture that most Americans probably do not know about. It will help Korean-American children see themselves represented in a book by a major publisher, and it will help educate non-Korean children about an important cultural practice in South Korea. I love stories about underrepresented people and places, so this is a fantastic addition to Kokila's repertoire.