Our thanks go out once again to Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI – Korea, for letting us know about another fabulous literature project taking place in Korea: Ollybolly.
Ollybolly is a cultural diversity program carried out by the Daum Foundation which “focuses on building a cultural foundation of mutual respect and understanding among people from all walks of life” and “seeks to provide resources for the next generation in order to promote creative and diverse ways of life through the use of media and communications.”
One of the Ollybolly projects is the recently created Online Picture Book project. This project allows anyone with internet access to watch animated picture book stories from several countries including Mongolia, Vietnam and the Philippines. The stories are all folktales and can be heard in English, Korean or their original language. Korean and English subtitles are also provided. Plans are in place to have over 170 books online by December and to include stories from Africa, South America and West Asia. Click here to see the list and start watching. I guarantee you will be enthralled not only by the wonderful stories themselves but also by their amazing illustrations!
The Ollybolly website says:
The Ollybolly Online Picture Book allows the next generation to experience stories from countries whose children’s books are not very well known by physical publication, especially in Korea. The project is designed to increase young people’s sensitivity towards cultural diversity. At the same time it will encourage them to communicate and live harmoniously with people from other parts of the world.
The Daum Foundation believes that differences are not the cause of discrimination and exclusion; rather, they are a source of creativity. We hope that the key holders of tomorrow will be imbued with wonderment and the positive values of diversity through their enjoyment of the Ollybolly Online Picture Book.
Once again, a huge shout out of thanks to Jenny Desmond-Walters, Regional Advisor for SCBWI - Korea, who has sent us the following on a recent SCBWI Korea Author Networking Night:
As I know you are always on the hunt for new authors and books with a South Asia theme, I immediately thought of you recently when I had the chance to meet with author and illustrator, Anne Sibley O’Brien. Anne came to Korea recently when she was invited to visit an international school at which she is an alumnus. Our SCBWI chapter had the pleasure of taking her to dinner where she opened up to us about her life, her writing journey and her experience growing up in Korea. Because Anne lived in Korea for 20 years during her childhood, she was raised bi-cultural and bi-lingual. She has a beautiful insight into the Korean way of life, especially as a foreigner being raised here.
During dinner we listened as she told us about her childhood, her missionary parents, her travels throughout Korea and the development of her writing career. She talked to us about her watercolor illustration technique and described her process. She told us about her Korean folk tale, The Legend of Hong Kil Dong: The Robin Hood of Korea, and how it developed into a story. She talked a bit about how challenging it can be to sell a folk tale because many publishers are reluctant to take the risk on them. They’re not always top sellers. At a school presentation she asked the children how many of them would go to the “folk tales of the world” section in their school library as their first choice to find an interesting book. Only one or two hands were raised. It’s just not their first choice for an interesting book, she told us. This means finding a publisher can be more difficult even though many of these stories are fascinating.
We also talked about what kind of language to use when re-telling a foreign tale. Anne confirmed that using some authentic language is important because it gives readers a flavor of the culture and that it was important to find a balance between capturing the feeling of the original words and yet still making the story accessible and understandable to readers. She also prefers to use the true foreign word when naming certain objects and people. These techniques enrich the storytelling by opening up windows of cultural enlightenment to readers.
As the night wound to an end we hugged, said thanks, and promised to keep in touch. I haven’t stopped feeling like I’m walking on clouds after having the most delightful visit with Anne Sibley O’Brien and getting to know the compassionate, dedicated, generous and down-to-earth author she is.
Click here to read Anne’s blog and see photos of her trip to Korea.
With Korea being a focus for PaperTigers, I’ve chosen a book called In the Moonlight Mist retold by Daniel San Souci (illus. Eujin Kim Neilan) published in 1999. This delightfully illustrated picture book is a retelling of a folktale about a virtuous woodcutter who saves the life of a deer from hunters. The deer rewards him with the knowledge of how to attain a wife. There is a pond in which heavenly maidens bathe; if the woodcutter hides the clothes of one of the maiden’s, he will have her as his wife. Troubled by having to commit such trickery, the woodcutter consults his ageing mother about what to do. She advises her son to do as the deer instructs. Luckily for the woodcutter, the heavenly maiden whom he selects falls in love with him. But such a union, of course, cannot last and soon, the maiden begins to pine for home. What will the woodcutter do?
Folktales like this one often illustrate culturally-related family dilemmas – in this case, the woodcutter is faced with what he feels he must do for his wife and what he must also do for his aged mother. What is the right decision? What is the virtuous action? Who does Heaven reward? These are the many questions this simple folktale poses. Folktales are rich cultural repositories of narrative wisdom from which the modern day reader can glean much knowledge. Their retelling, therefore, is an important contribution to cultural understanding world-wide, especially for children.
Are there folktales you were fond of reading when you were a child? Where did you find them? What folktales have you read to your children?
Moving house can be an unsettling, not to say traumatic experience for children - especially when the move involves a move to a new country with a different culture and language. Usually children have had no say in family decisions and they can feel swept along by the adults in their lives. Stories about other children moving to a new home are certainly a good way to help ease feelings of isolation and, as in so many other situations, provide an opening for children to talk about their own worries. Even children who appear to be positive and excited about imminent changes in their lives need an outlet to express niggling concerns before these whisperings become overpowering spectres.
Goodbye, 382 Shin Dang Dong (National Geographic, 2002) by sisters Frances and Ginger Park and illustrated by Yangsook Choi (who all feature in interviews in our current focus on Korea) is a perfect story to reassure and reflect on: and its ending on a note of optimism means that it’s also a good story to go to sleep on.
Jangmi is very sad that her family is about to move from Korea to America. She has to say good-bye to everything and everyone she knows - the market, her best friend Kisuni, the beloved willow tree in her garden. Jangmi’s parents have done a good job preparing her - she knows a lot about what will be the same, similar, different: but even so, she doesn’t want to go. However, once actually in America, Jangmi starts to feel a bit more optimistic. There is a beautiful maple tree in her new garden and she makes a new friend - and she realises that, despite the distance, Kisuni is still her best friend.
However, this is not only a story for children who have immigrated into a new country: it is also a story that will comfort children left behind by friends moving away. And it reminds all children (and adults) of the importance of making new neighbours feel welcome, wherever they have come from.
For more book recommendations for children and young adults, read New to America - Living the Immigrant Life from The Miss Rumphius Effect; and Ann Lazim’s Personal View for PaperTigers: The Immigrant and Second Generation Experience in British Children’s Books.
Korea’s participation in the 2005 Frankfurt Book Fair and at this year’s Bologna Children’s Book Fair as “Guest of Honor” was an important step toward making its literature better known worldwide. On both occasions, cultural events helped generate awareness of the country’s many literary riches and encouraged publishers to pay more attention to its wealth of established and new book creators.
Whereas the number of Korean books translated into English is still small, comparatively speaking, the output of writers and illustrators with Korean roots continues to grow and enlighten readers about the realities and experiences of their communities all over the world. Through our current website features, PaperTigers pays tribute to the narratives for children, available in English, from/about Korea and the Korean diaspora. We encourage you to hop on over to the website to check them out.
We will also be writing about these books here, on the blog, so please check back often and join in the conversation!
