Category: Books

Kids Books

2018/09/23 / Nic / 0 Comments

In Korea people tend to be open about certain bodily functions, more than western countries. For example, several romantic dramas will still have a scene where the lead female character is constipated or has diarrhoea. This openness shows a lot in children entertainment, with many TV shows having songs about poop and many kids’ books being about pooping.

I was browsing the book store because I wanted to buy out baby Yul a new book. So many just seemed to be about poop, pooping and butts! I found one I thought was just about different modes of transportation but it turned out it was a book to HELP kids poop. The different transportation sounds help relax kids I guess?

Please send me some non-poop books! haha

WHICH HOGWARTS HOUSE?

2015/02/04 / Nic / 10 Comments

Mr Gwon is finally sorted into a Hogwarts house. Watch the video below to see which one.

We all love Harry Potter in my family. I really love fantasy novels (as does my father and one of my brothers), but Harry Potter was what got our whole family obsessed. Well, except my mother who watched the movies but didn’t read the books I think. On the way to the cinema to see one of the last movies as a family, my mother had asked, “Okay, what do I need to know?” to which my smartarse sister replied, “Well you see, Harry… he is a wizard…” haha.

We read the books over the years, waiting for the next one to come out. They fueled many animated discussions in our family and sometimes fights, especially when a new book had just been released and we only had 1 copy and we got sneaky in our ways to steal the book from each other. There were definitely times where someone was reading at a table, and got up to get a cup of tea, and came back to find the book vanished.

So Harry Potter is not only a great series, but is something that holds many memories for me. Mr Gwon had just casually watched the movies and is not as invested in the Harry Potter world as I am. So it was time for him to be sorted. Now I’m not sure it was such a good idea…

Anne of Green Gables

2013/02/19 / Nic / 44 Comments

Sorry, this is not a funny one, just an appreciating my husband one. Have you ever been in a relationship where there are so many warning signs but you are so infatuated that you don’t see them (or ignore them)? This guy I very briefly dated saw that I had an ‘Anne of Green Gables’ book in my room, among other books he also considered too “girly”. I had not even suggested doing anything related to that and did not expect him to like a favourite childhood book of mine, but that type of response should have been a warning sign. I don’t want to be really negative about this guy and I hope he is happy now, but it’s interesting seeing things in hindsight and seeing the contrast to how my husband responds to things. My husband is never worried about his masculinity being threatened and is so open to things whether they are considered “girly” or not.

I do really like Anne of Green Gables, I’ve reread it so many times, but I didn’t realise he even knew of it. I was pleasantly surprised to hear him say that he likes it and in particular likes some of the quotes from it. We then had a lovely chat about being positive and using your imagination and dreaming about the future.

Pottermore

2012/11/10 / Nic / 46 Comments

When I first joined Pottermore… (The Harry Potter website).

And then later…

I went back on Pottermore again last night. I still fail at potions. Have you seen the inside of the Slytherin common room? I haven’t. How am I supposed to make the Polyjuice potion? It’s so hard!

As much a J.K. Rowling says stuff like “It’s not that Hufflepuffs are dumb, they are just as smart, it’s just they don’t boast about their achievements.” Well, whatever she said…. It doesn’t stop other people from making fun!

Where are all the Hufflepuffs? I have cookies, let’s go eat our feelings.

Book Review – Waiting for Mummy

2012/04/13 / Nic / 2 Comments

Waiting for Mummy by Tae-Jun Lee

This is a famous children’s book that has only been published in English somewhat recently. It was written in 1938 by author Tae-Jun Lee who wrote many famous stories and was well loved in Korea. In this edition the illustrations are by Dong-Sung Kim and they are painted on traditional Korean paper (han-ji) and use traditional Chinese ink line techniques (muck-sun).

I saw this book in an Australian book store and noticed the Korean names on it. It was only after I bought it and did some research that I realised how special this book is.

It is a simple but heart-wrenching story of a young boy waiting for his mother at a tram stop. The first time I read it I thought there was no conclusion or indication of whether the little boy’s mother returns or not. I actually cried. I realised later that the ending is shown on the very last illustration but you have to look carefully.

Though simply written, the story is incredibly moving – particularly when you know Korea’s history and that this was written during the Japanese occupation – and it really stuck in my mind for days. The illustrations are beautiful. Some are quite simple but they convey so much. And the little boy is so adorable but looks so small and insignificant. What is even more poignant is that the author Tang-Jun Lee was actually an orphan himself. He was a war correspondent during The Korean War but settled in North Korea afterwards and disappeared in 1956…

I have seen some comments online by parent’s that think the book is too sad and they wouldn’t read it to their children but I disagree. It is such a beautiful and moving book that I will be reading it to my future children- in both English and Korean.