On Unhei’s first day of school in America, kids on the bus tease her
about her hard-to-pronounce Korean name. Arriving in her classroom, she doesn’t
share her name, saying only that she plans to pick a new one. Her teacher and
classmates respond with enthusiastic support, creating a name jar for all the
suggestions they have. Unhei tries out each name, sometimes in front of her
bathroom mirror, to see which one suits her: Daisy, Miranda, Laura…. Well, none
of them seems right. Besides, Unhei reminds herself, her mother and grandmother
chose her name carefully. “Unhei” means “grace,” and she treasures the wooden
name stamp with the beautiful Korean character that her grandmother gave her.
So, back at school she proudly introduces herself using her given name, and her
classmates work hard to pronounce it correctly – “Yoon-hye.” Her new friend
Joey even asks Mr. Kim at the Korean grocery to find a name stamp for him:
“Chinku,” meaning “friend.” Written and
illustrated by Korean-born Yangsook Choi, The
Name Jar is a warm-hearted, realistic story, a gift to all children and their adults. Ages 4-8.
