Julie Kim

This is a delightful, new, and unique book to offer beginning chapter readers. The story begins on the endpages, as a grandmother buys a cupboard... and something surprising comes out of it and swallows her up!

When her grandchildren arrive a few moments (and pages) later, they go on a journey to rescue her, encountering magical creatures both helpful and frightening, a clever rabbit, and one scary tiger. There are all sorts of clever jokes and hidden surprises for readers to discover show more throughout the book, as well as a satisfying story.

Kim's art is a blend of traditional and contemporary. The kids wear contemporary clothes and equally contemporary grouchy expressions (long journeys in a magical world are exhausting!) and there are comic panels and and a linear flow of the story. But there are also fantastic creatures from Korean legend and culture, Korean script interwoven, and lush blues and greens, vivid oranges, and lots of curving lines and smooth earth tones.

The final pages translate the Korean language included and an author's note explains some of the history and tradition, both cultural and personal, behind the book.

Verdict: I have a small Korean population which I think will appreciate this, but all of my graphic novel fans are sure to find it a delightful adventure with funny jokes and interesting creatures. Recommended.

ISBN: 9781632170774; Published 2017 by little bigfoot/Sasquatch; Borrowed from another library in my consortium; Purchased for the library show less

Oh my goodness! This book was such a delight to read! The art style and story telling were so well done - incorporating traditional Korean art and folktales with a gentle contemporary spin. I loved how the story starts and ends inside the cover, and how there are pages where it’s just the gorgeous illustrations driving the journey. There were mini- chapters (The Rabbit, The Goblins, and The Tiger) that encompass little bits of lore as the kids interact with each of the creatures. The book show more also incorporates some Korean words, in Korean characters, in it with a small dictionary at the end to show what each of the words spelled out in Korean means. I also appreciate the page of explanation at the end that describes where each of the creatures in the story came from in traditional lore.

My favorite part is how there are little hidden elements throughout the whole story that connect things around halmoni’s house to the folklore world and vise-versa. I particularly liked the mirror behind halmoni, and then behind noona.

This is one of those books that I was compelled to read slowly to enjoy the journey and the illustrations. The illustrations are so beautifully done, I could just spend hours looking at all the little details. Highly recommended. show less

Oh, this is a delight! Trickster tales, traditional Korean folklore, wonderful illustrations and a highly imaginative adventure -- I particularly love the Dokkebi (trolls? ish?), but the facial expressions across the board are just hilarious and incredibly appealing.

I lovethe format of this picture book. Having it in a more graphic-novel type format definitely makes it an enjoyable read, and the style is one of the cutest styles I've ever seen for a picture book. I'm definitely taking notes.

Where's Halmoni? is a story in which two children on a search for their missing grandmother leads them through a world of Korean folklore.

I love that the story is vivid, beautiful, and dynamic. Each character has emotions and expressions unique to each of them, and show more again, that style is to die for! I just wish the characters they run into were more fleshed out. Why does the tiger covet that [spoiler, lmao]? Just because he's greedy? I mean, I know this is a picture book, but it is a lot longer than most, and just a simple sentence here would have worked. Why did everyone want that thing, too? I would've liked to know - and again, just one sentence would've worked. Was there a reason everyone in that world was starving? Maybe that would've been a clue, but it again was never explained (and maybe it's something I'm missing from the folklore itself).

Anyway, a very enjoyable picture book, made better by the book's format and illustration style. I might see if Julie Kim has other accounts or illustrations somewhere where I can follow ... show less