The Exploits of Xenophon by Geoffrey Household

Mar1

So I finished this Landmark history book last night, and I really found it absorbing. Apparently, it’s a famous story that comes from the Anabasis by Xenophon, but my ancient Greek history is a little rusty. I’ve heard of Xenophon, but I didn’t know anything about this little incident. It’s really all about this orphaned Greek army marching all over Asia Minor and trying to survive and get back home. They encounter multiple enemies, raging rivers, treachery, harsh winter weather, and more treachery and finally the army does make it back to Greece, or at least near-Greece, maybe Thrace/Bulgaria, just across the Dardanelles from Constantinople?

I needed a better map in my head to follow all of the wanderings of the Greek army called the “Ten Thousand” because supposedly there were that many Greek soldiers in this super-duper Greek fighting force of mercenaries who were tricked into fighting for the younger brother, Cyrus, of the Persian emperor, Ataxerxes, in Cyrus’s attempt to take over his brother’s throne. The Greeks won the battle for Cyrus, but while they were enjoying a little plundering, Artaxerxes managed to kill Cyrus. So they became an army without a mission, trapped deep in enemy territory, with no way to get home safely. Artaxerxes just wanted to get rid of them, and so he allowed them to march north through Kurdistan and Armenia and then west to the Black Sea. Not that the Persians didn’t harass the Ten Thousand as much as possible, and then the Kurds were another problem, and the rivers and snows and mountains, and then more Persians and other “wild tribes.”

Xenophon apparently wrote the Anabasis, the story of the March of the Ten Thousand, in the third person, writing about how “Xenophon did this” and “Xenophon decided that”. He probably wrote his masterpiece that way to “distance himself as a subject, from himself as a writer,” according to Wikipedia. Mr. Household chose to put the whole story into first person and write it from Xenophon’s point of view, a perspective that is already in the original, just disguised a bit. I’m not sure why Household switches the narrative to first person, but it does make the story more immediate and modern-sounding. We’re rather fond of first person memoir in our day and time.

Household also says in the preface to the book that he modernizes some of Xenophon’s style and cut the story for this juvenile edition to quarter of its original length. However, all of the content is pure Xenophon. I think it would be fascinating to follow the Ten Thousand on their journey on a map of ancient Mesopotamia, Turkey, and Greece, and read this slimmed down version of the Anabasis aloud as a family—especially if you have a family of adventurers.

A few random facts, courtesy of Wikipedia:

“Traditionally Anabasis is one of the first unabridged texts studied by students of classical Greek, because of its clear and unadorned style.”

“The cry of Xenophon’s soldiers when they meet the sea is mentioned by the narrator of Jules Verne’s Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864), when their expedition discovers an underground ocean. The famous cry also provides the title of Iris Murdoch’s Booker Prize-winning novel, The Sea, the Sea (1978).”

Author Geoffrey Household served in British Intelligence during World War II in Romania, Greece and the Middle East. He was best known for his suspense novels, especially one called Rogue Male. Between the World Wars, he worked in the banking business in Romania, moved to Spain to sell bananas for United Fruit Company, and came to New York and wrote radio plays for children for CBS.

I really wish I knew more about how Bennett Cerf found and assigned different authors to write the books in the Landmark history series. Cerf on hiring authors: “I decided not to get authors of children’s books, but the most important authors in the country.” How did Mr. Household come to Cerf’s and Random House’s attention, I wonder?

Oh, by the way, Exploits of Xenophon is one of the more rare titles in the Landmark history series. It’s listed at anywhere from $30.00 to $80.00, used, at Amazon.

To learn more about the Landmark series of biographies and history books for young people, check out this podcast episode, Parts 1 and 2, of Plumfield Moms, What Are Landmark Books? Why Do They Matter?

Skeleton Tree by Kim Ventrella

Feb27

This one falls into the category of really odd and quirky middle grade fiction, but readable, if you can get past the premise: a skeleton emerges from the soil in Stanly’s backyard. Only Stanly, his friend Jaxon, Stanly’s little sister Miren, and the Kyrgyzstani babysitter, Ms. Francine, can actually see the skeleton tree, at least most of the time, and Miren calls the skeleton Princy.

Weeeell, as Jack Benny used to say, that’s a lot to take in: a dancing skeleton who may or may not be making Miren’s illness better —or worse. And Stanly wants to take a picture of “Princy”, win a prize, and force his estranged dad to pay attention to his deserted family. Stanly’s and Jaxon’s friendship is a lovely bit of business: Jaxon has OCD, and Stanly simply accepts Jaxon’s fence-post counting and food pickiness as a part of his friend’s personality.

I really liked parts of this book: Stanly’s relationship with his little sister, protective even when he was annoyed with her brattiness; Jaxon and Stanly and their friendship; the total weirdness of having a skeleton growing in a tree in your backyard. However, the sadness of Miren’s illness, the dad’s neglect of his family, and Stanly’s mom’s very difficult financial and living situation finally got to me, and I really didn’t want to finish the book, even though I had to know what would happen to Stanly and Miren and Princy.

Also, I know it’s so minor as to be nitpicking, but I really think Stanly should be spelled with an “e”, “Stanley”. It just looks wrong the way it is in this book.

Two Polish setting tales

Feb26

The Wolf Hour by Sara Lewis Holmes

The Dollmaker of Krakow by R.M. Romero.

Ms. Holmes gives us a story of pigs (three little ones plus a mama pig), wolves, and a girl with a red cap, fusing together the folklore of the Polish forest, the Puszcza, with the tales of the city, of magic flutes and stolen, enchanted girls. It’s a book that talks about the roles we are expected to fill and the changes that we can make if we have the courage to do so. Girls are not supposed to be woodcutters, but Magia, the red-capped girl, knows that becoming a woodcutter like her father is what she is meant to be. And wolves are meant to be the villains of the story, but what if the little pigs are the real tricksters and bad guys, luring the wolves to their doom?

Actually, I thought the setting for this story was somewhere in a magical Poland, but maybe it’s Ukraine or even Russia. Wherever it is set, the tale is dark and creepy but with just enough humor and lightness that it’s perfectly appropriate for middle grade readers who like a bit of scariness and suspense mixed into their fantasy reading. Fans of the TV series Once Upon a Time or Grimm might take to this twisted version of fairy tale world.

The Dollmaker of Krakow is partially set in Poland, World War II Poland, but also in a mythical Kingdom of the Dolls where events mirror to some extent the event in Poland. The evil rats have invaded the Land of the Dolls and enslaved all of the dolls, so when the doll Karolina tries to escape, she finds herself blown the wind into World War II Poland and living in the shop of the The Dollmaker. Karolina and the man known as the Dollmaker become friends with a Jewish violinist, Jozef, and his daughter, Rena, and from that friendship come danger and an opportunity to influence the course of events both in our world and in the Land of the Dolls.

Again, it’s a Holocaust tale, so it’s dark and rather scary, but there is a sense of hope that one person—or one doll— can be brave enough and persevering enough to make a difference and shine some light into that darkness.
‘

Edna St. Vincent Millay, b.February 22, 1892

Feb22

Renascence

ALL I could see from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood;
I turned and looked the other way,
And saw three islands in a bay.
So with my eyes I traced the line
Of the horizon, thin and fine,
Straight around till I was come
Back to where I’d started from;
And all I saw from where I stood
Was three long mountains and a wood.
Over these things I could not see:
These were the things that bounded me;
And I could touch them with my hand,
Almost, I thought, from where I stand.
And all at once things seemed so small
My breath came short, and scarce at all.

As the poem goes on, the poet experiences some sort of awakening or death and resurrection, or renascence, and finally, the poem of 200+ lines ends with these words:

O God, I cried, no dark disguise
Can e’er hereafter hide from me
Thy radiant identity!
Thou canst not move across the grass
But my quick eyes will see Thee pass,
Nor speak, however silently,
But my hushed voice will answer Thee.
I know the path that tells Thy way
Through the cool eve of every day;
God, I can push the grass apart
And lay my finger on Thy heart!

The world stands out on either side
No wider than the heart is wide;
Above the world is stretched the sky,—
No higher than the soul is high.
The heart can push the sea and land
Farther away on either hand;
The soul can split the sky in two,
And let the face of God shine through.
But East and West will pinch the heart
That can not keep them pushed apart;
And he whose soul is flat—-the sky
Will cave in on him by and by.

Millay was by no means a Christian poet, but her poems, many of them at least, are subject to Christian interpretation. This one was definitely a favorite in my adolescent years, and it still is. The description of a spiritual awakening or rebirth is vivid and quotable.

W.H. Auden, b. February 21, 1907

Feb21

As I Walked Out One Evening
by W. H. Auden

As I walked out one evening,
Walking down Bristol Street,
The crowds upon the pavement
Were fields of harvest wheat.

And down by the brimming river
I heard a lover sing
Under an arch of the railway:
‘Love has no ending.

‘I’ll love you, dear, I’ll love you
Till China and Africa meet,
And the river jumps over the mountain
And the salmon sing in the street,

‘I’ll love you till the ocean
Is folded and hung up to dry
And the seven stars go squawking
Like geese about the sky.

Things sort of go downhill for the narrator of the poem after that, until “the crack in the tea-cup opens/ A lane to the land of the dead.” Read the rest of the poem at Poets.org.

It’s a rather facile reaction, but that first part of Auden’s poem reminds me of this song by Jerry Livingston and Paul Francis Webster:

You ask me how much I need you, must I explain?
I need you, oh my darling, like roses need rain
You ask how long I’ll love you, I’ll tell you true
Until the Twelfth of Never, I’ll still be loving you

Hold me close, never let me go
Hold me close, melt my heart like April snow

I’ll love you ’til the bluebells forget to bloom
I’ll love you ’til the clover has lost its perfume
I’ll love you ’til the poets run out of rhyme
Until the Twelfth of Never and that’s a long, long time

Until the Twelfth of Never and that’s a long, long time . . .

Johnny Mathis sang it first, but I grew up when The Osmond Brothers were a thing. And Donny was the teeny-bopper heartthrob. Ah, those were the days . . . Donny Osmond, and bell bottom pants, and Gogo boots.

Louis Slobodkin, b. February 19, 1903

Feb19

This picture book is an out of print title, One Is Good But Two Are Better by Louis Slobodkin. You might be able to find this older picture book, published in 1956, in your public library–if you have a discerning librarian. Otherwise, I have a copy at Meriadoc Homeschool Library.

The text is a rhyming poem about the many situations in which it’s better to have a friend–or two. Example: “One may hide, or one may peek, but you need two for hide-and-seek.” The illustrations are simple line drawings with splashes of watercolor. The book ends with a whole group of friends, singing and playing and having a wonderful day together. One Is Good But Two Are Better, if you can find a used copy in good condition, would be a great gift for a big friend who appreciates picture books or for a little friend who enjoys snuggling up for a good read.

Louis Slobodkin, by the way, has a birthday today. He was born February 19, 1903. He was originally a sculptor who became an illustrator. He illustrated books for other people as well as his own. He did the illustrations for many of Eleanor Estes’ books, including one of my favorites, The Hundred Dresses. He also won the Caldecott Medal for his illustrations of James Thurber’s Many Moons.

Other Slobodkin titles that are available for checkout from my library:

The Space Ship Under the Apple Tree by Louis Slobodkin. A Martinian, not a Martian, from a flying saucer befriends a normal American boy.

Magic Michael by Louis Slobodkin. A picture book story in verse where Michael’s imagination transforms him into many different animals as Michael’s older sister tries to keep up with whom or what Michael is today.

Valentine Ash Wednesday Meditations

Feb14

I just finished my Bible reading for today. (I’m using a Bible reading plan this year that has me reading ten chapters a day from ten different parts of of the Bible. I really like it because it keeps me on my toes, paying attention, but also provides variety and encourages comparison of different parts of the Scriptures.) Then I read this Baptist Standard article about Olympic gold medal snowboarder, Kelly Clark. The article quotes Clark:

“I started to understand that I didn’t get my worth from people or from the things that I did. . . . It was from Christ. If I hadn’t had that shift in my life, I think my world would have come crumbling down.”

Meaning and worth come from our identity in Christ. A lot of what I read in the Bible today indicates the same truth. In Judges, chapter 18, the nation of Israel has been a nation where “everyone did what was right in his own eyes” for a long time, maybe 400-500 years. The sin cycle of apostasy/punishment/repentance/deliverance repeats itself in the book of Judges over and over. And the final chapters of Judges are the culmination of all of those years of corruption and confusion, just full of idolatry, murder, civil war, and chaos. (Don’t even read chapter 19 of Judges unless you are ready to read about some horrible and triggering nastiness and evil.) There’s not much meaning or worth to be found in the final chapters of Judges—also, not much God to be found.

Next, I came to Solomon’s musings in Ecclesiastes, chapter 2. Solomon says he pursued pleasure and wisdom and everything his eyes desired. He worked hard to get and experience it all. And he concluded:

“For of the wise as of the fool there is no enduring remembrance, seeing that in the days to come all will have been long forgotten. How the wise dies just like the fool! So I hated life, because what is done under the sun was grievous to me, for all is vanity and a striving after wind. . . . So I turned about and gave my heart up to despair over all the toil of my labors under the sun, because sometime a person who has toiled with wisdom and knowledge and skill must leave everything to be enjoyed by someone who did not toil for it. This also is vanity, and a great evil. What has a man from all the toil and striving of heart with which he toils beneath the sun?” ~Ecclesiastes 2:16-17, 20-22

What does it all mean? What is it all worth? Nothing, says Solomon, because it all ends—all the stuff disintegrates, and all the wisdom is forgotten, and all of the great artistic and scientific achievements are eventually dead or forgotten or superseded by something that will also be lost and forgotten eventually. And Ash Wednesday was set up to remind us of this truth. Memento mori; remember that you are dust, and to dust you shall return.

So, what is it that keeps us from despair? Nothing. The only hope is from the hand of God says Solomon in verses 24-25. “For apart from Him who can eat or who can have enjoyment?”

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” ~Galatians 2:20

When a person turns away and rejects God through Christ his Son, that person falls first into idolatry, looking desperately for a God-substitute that will alleviate his or her restless need for deliverance and meaning. Then, perhaps comes simple blindness which says, “I don’t need a god. I don’t want God. I don’t need meaning or hope or anything else. I am self-sufficient.” But, finally, we all die; we all return to the dust from whence we came. And all of our works die with us. My only hope is to live by faith in the eternal Son of God, Jesus, who loved me and gave himself for me.

And that’s the one and only eternal Love worth remembering on this Valentine’s Day, the only Love that makes all of the other smaller loves in our lives worthwhile, meaningful, and worth celebrating.

The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt by Elizabeth Payne

Feb13

I’m joining in with a Facebook group to read through all of the Landmark series of history books in chronological order. The event at a group called Following Book Trails, called Read All the Landmarks, started in January with a couple of books that deal with “pre-history”, books that I’m not too sad to have missed since I don’t think I share the presuppositions of the authors about so-called prehistoric times.

So, my first book with the group is this one about ancient Egypt. It’s as much a book about archaeology and Egyptology as it is about ancient Egypt. The book begins with the discovery and translation of the Rosetta Stone by French scholars in Napoleonic times (early 19th century), and then in chapter two there’s some speculation about Egypt and Egyptians before civilization (10,000 BC – 3200 BC) Then, we come to the beginning of actual history, c.3200 BC with Pharaoh Narmer/Menes and the kingdoms of Upper Egypt, Middle Egypt, and Lower Egypt.

And in chapter two, I start having my usual upper/lower/middle Egypt problem. Does anyone else have trouble visualizing (or keeping the image fixed) of a river that flows NORTH? My mind wants all rivers to flow southward—or east or west maybe, but not north. I think it has something to do with the Mississippi River and with flat maps on which south is down, the direction a river should flow, of course. Anyway, it makes me mix up Upper and Lower Egypt all the time, even though I know the difference.

The book continues in a well-written and accessible vein as the most famous and infamous of the Egyptian pharaohs strut and fret their hour upon the stage. From Cheops/Khufu of the Great Pyramid to the Hykksos dynasty, the Shepherd Kings, to Hatshepsut and Thutmose to Akhetaton to Rameses, Egypts’s god-kings are a fascinating study. I will admit to spend a great deal of thought time and a bit of research time to trying to figure out once again where the Biblical narratives of Joseph and Moses fit into the Egyptian timeline of the pharaohs, but Ms. Payne’s book never mentions that aspect of Egyptian history, probably because it’s both controversial and complicated.

Ms. Payne’s book hits the highlights of Egypt’s 3000 year history (BC) and gives some details about the archeological re-discovery of ancient Egypt and its culture and lore during the 19th and 20th centuries. Of course, since The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt was first published in 1964, more recent advances in the study of Egyptology are not included. For example, the following discovery was made just last year in 2017:

Scientists detect mystery void in Great Pyramid of Giza:
Particles from space point to unknown chamber in the 4,500-year-old Egyptian monument.

Of course my questions are: What is inside the previously undiscovered chamber or “void”? When and how will the archeologists find out? Or is it empty? Inquiring minds want to know.

Anyway, The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt is a good introduction to the study of ancient Egyptian history, certainly not exhaustive, but adequate for elementary and even middle school aged students. Some good follow-up books are:

Pyramid by David Macaulay. I love David Macaulay’s books about architecture from pyramids to castles to bridges. The illustrations are so detailed and helpful, and the accompanying story makes it come alive.

Tales of Ancient Egypt by Roger Lancelyn Green. Stories of the ancient Egyptian gods such as Amen-Ra and Osiris, and some of the Egyptian rulers.

The First Book of Ancient Egypt by Charles Robinson. History of ancient Egyptian daily life, farming and trade, religion, architecture, literature, and science.

Mummies Made in Egypt by Aliki. All you ever wanted to know about mummies and mummification, and some things you probably could have lived without knowing.

His Majesty, Queen Hatshepsut by Dorothy Sharp Carter. Fictional account based on the real life of the Pharaoh Hatshepsut, the only woman pharaoh of ancient Egypt.

Shadow Hawk by Andre Norton. Fiction set c.1590 BC, near the end of the Hyksos occupation of Lower Egypt.

Escape From Egypt by Sonia Levitin. YA fiction about Moses and the people of the Exodus.

The Edge of Time by Louella Grace Erdman

Feb7

Bethany and Wade Cameron begin their journey by wagon from Missouri to the Texas Panhandle on their wedding day. They take with them, or acquire along the way, a few necessary items: a milk cow, a horse, seeds, curtains, a rag rug, and a rosebush cutting from the rosebush in Bethany’s parents’ front yard. When they reach their homestead in Texas, they will have no near neighbors, no railroad nearby to bring in supplies or take crops to market, and no extra resources other than their own faith, courage, and stick-to-it-tiveness. Bethany is not even sure of Wade’s love for her; he was originally pledged to marry another girl who jilted him, and he only turned to Bethany when she rashly promised to go with him anywhere.

One reviewer on Amazon said of this book: “I started reading this book and thought it was going to start off slow. It wasn’t slow just in the beginning… I think it was a horrible pointless book.” I disagree, but if you’re looking for a modern thriller or romance, you will be as disappointed as the Amazon reviewer was. Bethany’s and Wade’s story unfolds slowly; their love and commitment grow over time. And the story is as much about their love affair with homesteading and with the land as it is about their marriage and their love for each other.

Two things impressed me. I was reminded of the old song from the musical Oklahoma:

One of the major themes of the book is the inevitability of change, and the conflict between the ranchers and the new farming homesteaders. Wade and Bethany are determined to make a go of farming in the new lands that the state of Texas is selling to homesteaders. Their neighbors and friends are mostly cowboys and ranchers who are kind and helpful to the new couple but not at all sympathetic to the fences and the plows that are breaking up the open range lands.

The other thing I noticed was the pattern of Bethany’s and Wade’s marriage. The story takes place in the late 1880’s; the book was published in 1950. The Camerons’ relationship displays the customs and expectations of both time periods. Wade is the strong, silent type. He makes the decisions and expects Bethany to agree with him. Bethany also expects things to be this way, although there is a scene in which she wants him to consult her about a major financial decision, but realizes that he can’t show that kind of “weakness” in front of other people. He later admits that he should have asked her about the decision, “that it was cowardly not to have asked her . . . But I just—well, I just couldn’t tell him—” And Bethany ends up glad that Wade didn’t embarrass himself and “come trailing in to ask [her]”.

It’s a different kind of marriage relationship than very many people would try nowadays. But perhaps our lack of trust in one another, and our need to always have everything “equal” and “fair” with all decisions being joint decisions, 50/50, creates its own set of problems and incongruities.

Louella Grace Erdman was a Texas writer who penned a number of books for adults and for children, mostly set in the Texas Panhandle where she lived the majority of her life. Ms. Erdman was a teacher of creative writing at West Texas State College, and she wrote about fifteen or more novels about pioneer and frontier life in Texas and elsewhere and a couple of volumes of memoir. I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for more of Ms. Erdman’s books.

Her books include:

Tales of the Texas Panhandle series. The Pierce family–father, mother and five children—are homesteaders in the Texas Panhandle during the late 1800’s. For middle graders and young adults.
The Wind Blows Free
The Wide Horizon
The Good Land

Other books for adults and teens:
Separate Star. A young schoolteacher’s first year of teaching.
Fair Is the Morning Connie a young school teacher moves the to rural town of Hickory Ridge to write a thesis on rural schools. The job soon proves to be a greater challenge than she had first imagined.
Lonely Passage. Coming of age story about a young girl growing up in a family of strong women.
Many a Voyage. Fiction about Kansas senator, later territorial governor of New Mexico, Edmund G. Ross through the eyes of his wife.
My Sky Is Blue.
The Far Journey. A young woman is reluctant to join her husband, Edward, on the Texas frontier, but eventually she does as they make a life together.
Room to Grow. French immigrants move to the Texas Panhandle from New Orleans.
Another Spring. Civil War era romance about families displaced by Order Number Eleven at the end of the Civil War.
A Bluebird Will Do. “Orphaned in San Francisco during gold rush days, a sixteen-year-old girl travels east by way of the Isthmus of Panama to seek out relatives in New Orleans.”
Save Weeping for the Night.. A fictional account of the life of Bettie Shelby, wife of the Confederate hero, General Jo Shelby.
Three at the Wedding. The wedding of Meredith Dunlap and Rodney Carlyle in the town of Linston, Texas shortly after World War II changes the lives of three other women in various ways.
The Years of the Locust.. The life and influence of an eighty year old farmer, Dade Kenzie, after his death in rural Missouri.
Life was Simpler Then. “Memories of the author’s Missouri farm childhood, within the framework of the four seasons.
A Time to Write.. Writing memoir.

Blog post on Louella Grace Erdman and her books at From Sinking Sand.
Handbook of Texas entry on Louella Grace Erdman.

Winter Olympics: Picture Books for Korea

Feb6

Links are to my reviews of the books, *** means I have this book in my library, available for checkout to library members.

Bae, Hyun-joo. New Clothes for New Year’s Day. Kane-Miller, 2007. A little girl puts on her new traditional Korean clothes for New Year’s Day.
Cheung, Hyechong. K is for Korea. Illustrated by Prodeepta Das. Frances Lincoln, 2008.
Choi, Yangsook. Peach Heaven. Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2005.
Choung, Eun-hee. Minji’s Salon. Kane/Miller, 2008.
Climo, Shirley. The Korean Cinderella. HarperCollins, 1993.
*Don, Lari. Never Trust a Tiger: A Story from Korea. Illustrated by Melanie Williams. Barefoot Books, 2012.
*Haskins, James. Count Your Way Through Korea. Illustrated by Dennis Hockerman.
Heo, Yumi. One Afternoon. Orchard, 1994.
Kwon, Yoon D. My Cat Copies Me. Kane/Miller, 2007.
McDonald, Christine. Goyangi Means Cat. Illustrated by Steve Johnson and Lou Fancher. Viking, 2011.
*O’Brien, Anne Sibley. The Princess and the Beggar. Scholastic, 1993.
Pak, Soyung. Dear Juno. Illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung. Puffin, 2001. Juno’s grandmother writes in Korean and Juno writes in drawings, but that doesn’t mean they can’t exchange letters.
Park, Frances and Ginger Park. My Freedom Trip: A Child’s Escape from North Korea. Illus. by Debra Jenkins. Boyds, 1998.
Park, Frances and Ginger Park. The Royal Bee. Illustrated by Christopher Zhuang. Boyds Mills, 2000. A poor Korean boy shows courage and determination to study and win a prize for his mother.
*Park, Janie Jaehyun. The tiger and the dried persimmon : a Korean folk tale. Toronto: Douglas & McIntyre, 2002.
*Park, Linda Sue. Bee-bim Bop. Illustrated by Ho Baek Lee. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2008.
Park, Linda Sue. The Firekeeper’s Son. Ilustrated by Julie Downing. Clarion, 2004.
*Park, Linda Sue. Tap-Dancing on the Roof: Sijo (Poems). Illustrated by Istvan Banyai. Clarion, 2007.
Recorvits, Helen. My Name is Yoon. Illustrated by Gabi Swiatkowska. Farrar Strauss and Giroux, 2003.
Rhee, Nami. Magic spring: a Korean folktale. Putnam, 1993.
Wong, Janet. The Trip Back Home. Illustrated by Bo Jia. Harcourt, 2000.

Activities:
Have a peach as you read Peach Heaven or make some Bee-Bim Bop as you read that title. Or for the more adventurous, try a persimmon fruit (The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon). Wikipedia says:

“Persimmons are eaten fresh, dried, raw, or cooked. When eaten fresh they are usually eaten whole like an apple or cut into quarters, though with some varieties it is best to peel the skin first. One way to consume very ripe persimmons, which can have the texture of pudding, is to remove the top leaf with a paring knife and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Riper persimmons can also be eaten by removing the top leaf, breaking the fruit in half and eating from the inside out. The flesh ranges from firm to mushy, and the texture is unique. The flesh is very sweet and when firm due to being unripe, possesses an apple-like crunch.”