This is a story set in the early 1800s in Korea about a young boy, Sang-hee, and the lesson he learns about growing up. Sang-hee’s father plays a critical role in their Korean village near the sea; he is a Firekeeper. Each night, he climbs a mountain and lights a flame to let the next Firekeeper in the chain know there is no danger (such as enemy forces) coming in from the sea. The chain of bonfires eventually reaches the King’s palace. If the King sees the fires, he knows all is well, whereas if there is only darkness, he knows he must send soldiers out.
One night the fire goes unlit and Sang-hee’s father never arrives home. Sang-hee knows something is wrong and runs up the mountain to find his father, who has broken his ankle. He charges his son with the important obligation of lighting the flame. Sang-hee wants to see the King’s soldiers very badly, but must make the responsible choice.
This interesting story has much to teach children, not only about trust and duty, but even how communication used to take place before the days of radio, television, and the internet.
The watercolor-and-pastel double-page pictures by Julia Downing lend a magical quality to the night scenes.
Rating: 3/5
Published by Clarion Books, an imprint of Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004
Product Details
Reading level: Ages 5 and up
Hardcover: 40 pages
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0618133372
ISBN-13: 978-0618133376
For more multicultural picture books, check out all the resources at The Birthday Party Pledge, a new website dedicated to promoting gifts of multicultural books to the children in our lives.
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For more reviews of books for children and teens, go to Booking Mama’s feature, Kid Konnection, posted on Saturdays. If you’d like to participate in Kid Konnection and share a post about anything related to children’s books (picture, middle grade, or young adult) from the past week, leave a comment as well as a link on her site.
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