Korea: The Mysterious Stream

Hello friends, 안녕하세요 친구 annyeonghaseyo chingu - that’s how they say hello in Korean!

Did you ever want to learn Korean? It’s the language spoken in South Korea, a small peninsula in Asia. I learned a few phrases when I visited for Children’s Day last year. Korea is filled with pretty hills, busy cities, and very friendly people.

Map Photo By derivative work: Seb az86556 Locator map of South Korea.svg: KSiOM (Locator map of South Korea.svg) [CC BY 3.0], via Wikimedia Commons

Photo By riNux from Taipei, Taiwan (train ride to daegu uploaded by Caspian blue) [CC BY-SA 2.0], via Wikimedia Commons

I just recently read a book called The Mysterious Stream by FB Smit. She is the same author that wrote the fun coloring story book that I shared with you for Multicultural Children’s Book Day, Heung Nu and Nol Bu. This story is also based on a traditional Korean folktale. In the book, a woodcutter follows the beautiful music of a bird into the forest and ends up discovering a magical stream that changes his life forever!

Photo by Joy Sun Bear, Inc.

When I opened the book, I noticed the pages were very colorful and the woodcutter and his wife seemed very happy with big smiles on their faces. Then, I looked up on the right side of page and noticed that the story is also written in Korean, just like Heung Nu and Nol Bu. I recognized some of the letters I had learned from that book and was excited to see how much I could read in Korean. I’ve heard that you can learn to read the entire Korean alphabet in one day, so it was fun to see which words I could make out in the story as I read along. It is also wonderful to see more and more people writing bilingual stories for children! It’s a great way to learn about different countries and cultures and grow your own knowledge by being able to speak another language.

Photo By Joy Sun Bear, Inc.

The color illustrations by Jessica Liu continue throughout the story and if you keep an eye out you can find the blue bird that leads the woodcutter to the mysterious stream in the forest. I don’t want to give the story away so you can read it for yourself, but I did enjoy it and it is a sweet story with a happy ending. 

Photo By Joy Sun Bear, Inc.

If you enjoy using the computer, there is an app that goes with the book. Play along while you read for extra Korean vocabulary practice.

Children’s Day in Korea is coming up on May 5th and being inspired from my last visit and these two Korean books, I want to share my adventure in Korea for Children’s Day with you! Stay tuned for a fun excursion to Korea to learn more about this traditional and fun holiday celebrated by kids and families everywhere in the country. I will be sharing a fun craft, video and a special giveaway just for my readers! You won’t want to miss it, friends!

If you would like to read my review on Heung Bu and Nol Bu, click on the Part One tab on this page.

If you would like to purchase The Mysterious Stream, click here.

You can visit the author’s website to learn more about her and other books by clicking here.

Thanks for stopping by friends and can’t wait to share Children’s Day and The Mysterious Giveaway with you next week (see what I did there with a play on words?!?) 🙂

Have a great day and 안녕히 계십시오 annyeonghi gyesibsio (goodbye friends)!

-Joy Sun Bear