My Name Is Yoon

Immigrant kids recognize that hesitation during roll call when a new teacher gets to their name. I used to dread it, but the experience depended on how a grownup handled these encounters with the unfamiliar. If only all teachers (and immigrant parents) were as wise as the ones in this book! Recorvits' poetic, spare text and Swiatkowska's imaginative paintings explore one aspect of feeling "foreign" -- an immigrant child's name. In a new language and a new alphabet, Yoon's beautiful Korean name seems foreign even to herself. Are you still "Yoon" when people outside the family pronounce your name differently? When they don't know that it means "shining wisdom?" For a child to feel at home in a new country, she needs a loving circle of teachers, parents, and classmates, as well as a good measure of her own courage. Reading My Name is Yoon might compensate somewhat if any of those crucial ingredients are missing.

Mischievous, Korean-born Yoon deals with starting school and learning English. She likes her name in Korean. It means shining wisdom. She is not so sure she likes YOON, her name written in English. The illustrations are stark, rich, and playful. Karen Woodworth Roman, East Asian Children's Books

This is a wonderful story that can be shared with any age group. It's about a young Asian girl who comes to America and refuses to write her English name. Beautiful story that teaches a lesson at the end. The pictures are spectacular and very intricate. I love this book!