My Name is Yoon

I really liked the book My Name is Yoon, by Helen Recorvits. One reason why I enjoyed this book was because of the character development of Yoon. Yoon is this energetic little girl who had just moved to the United States from South Korea and does not like her name. Yoon is afraid of not finding her fit in America. Her way of coping with this was to just keep changing her name to different names such as "cat" or "bird." As the story progressed, with the help of her teacher, Yoon slowly learned to love her name and the beauty around it. Because of one little girl on the playground who Yoon played with and sang a song in English with, she slowly come to realization that America would be good home for her. Just because of one little girl show more who gave Yoon a cupcake, it changed Yoon's whole perspective about her new home and the beauty of her name. She went from being an insecure little girl who was embarrassed of her name, to a confident little girl who is proud her name and where it comes from.
Another reason why I enjoyed this story was for its illustrations. Every illustration seemed to appear so realistic and 3D. For example, on the page where Yoon decided to call herself cat, there are cats all over the chalk board. On the board, there is one cat that appears to be sitting directly on top of the chalk board looking down at the teacher. Although this book is not 3D, the cat truly appears to be on top of the chalk board and not just drawn above it. Another page where the illustrations is like this was on the page where Yoon decides that her new name will be cupcake. On this page, there is an illustration of Yoon dressed as a cupcake and it truly looks like she is floating in the air, above her classmates.
Overall, the big idea of this book is for children to learn to be proud of their cultural backgrounds. Yoon at first was not proud of her name and wanted to move back to her original home. By the end, Yoon accepted the nature of her name and its beautiful meaning. A message like this is important in a children's book because there are so many students in classrooms today who may feel the same way that Yoon felt. Yoon is a relatable character to those students that are new to the United States. This book introduces to them this idea of self-confidence and being proud of where they came from. show less

"An unhappy young immigrant seeks, and at last regains, a sense of self in this atmospheric, expressionistically illustrated episode. Instead of writing her own name on her papers at school, Yoon calls herself “Cat,” then “Bird”—“I wanted to be BIRD. I wanted to fly, fly back to Korea”—and even, after a classmate’s friendly culinary overture, “Cupcake.” Ultimately, she finds her balance again: “I write my name in English now. It still means Shining Wisdom.” Swiatkowska internalizes Yoon’s adjustment, both by depicting her escape fantasies literally, and by placing figures against expanses of wall that are either empty of decoration, or contain windows opening onto distant, elaborate landscapes. Reminiscent of show more Allen Say’s work for its tone, theme, and neatly drafted, often metaphorical art, this strongly communicates Yoon’s feelings in words and pictures both. She is also surrounded by supportive adults, and her cultural heritage, though specified, is given such a low profile that she becomes a sort of everychild, with whom many young readers faced with a similar sense of displacement will identify. (Picture book. 8-10)" www.kirkusreviews.com show less

A glimmer of friendship from another student, a knowing smile from a teacher, a tempting daydream about cupcakes, and the importance of making her parents proud, all shine as moments in the story when Yoon and her family move from Korea to the US. She must learn new letters and learn how to tell the world who she is when she meets her new class. It's no wonder Yoon has some trouble!

One day she is a cat, yearning to curl up in the corner and after a successful shared snack with a friend...she is a cupcake! The story gradually builds, showing the reader little by little what Yoon is doing and thinking, eventually rising to Yoon's understanding that she is still herself or "Shining Wisdom."

A wonderful lesson for anyone struggling with show more defining themselves in a new group or contending with a name people around them find challenging. It's a gentle story and the illustrations are lovely. The brushtrokes bring depth and light shines out from the teacher who seems to understand what Yoon is up to by words other than her name. I will be excited to see what Yoon's other adventures bring in later books. show less

Yoon's name means shining wisdom, and when she writes it in Korean, it looks happy, like dancing figures. But her father tells her that she must learn to write it in English. In English, all the lines and circles stand alone, which is just how Yoon feels in the United States. Yoon isn't sure that she wants to be YOON. At her new school, she tries out different names--maybe CAT or BIRD. Maybe CUPCAKE!

I really enjoyed My Name is Yoon for 3 reasons. The first was that the author made Yoon very relatable and the audience received a lot of information on her character since the book was written through her point of view. The author had Yoon express emotions and ideas very well. Because Yoon is about to begin school and is still adjusting to life in America rather than Korea, she begins to discover that she doesn’t like some of the changes. As her father teachers her to print Y-O-O-N in English, she wrinkles her nose and thinks that her name looks more “happy in Korean, where the symbols danced together,” and her name had a special meaning in Korea.

The book was also really enhanced by the illustrations of Gabi Swiatkowska. As the show more book explains that children will not always understand what words mean, like when the teacher keeps writing C-A-T and Yoon says she doesn’t know what the word means but the pictures explain the word, Gabi was able to pair vivid images to support and help explain the story. Students like Yoon could look at the pictures and get an idea of what the story meant even if they didn’t understand every word. One final reason that I really enjoyed this book was the moral of the story. As Yoon keeps trying and learning new things she eventually considers that “maybe different is good too.” This doesn’t have to only apply to moving to a new place but can be about learning something new, making new friends, or any type of change that everyone can relate too. show less

I really enjoyed reading this book for many different reasons. I liked that the language was descriptive and detailed. The text helped me to create a picture in my mind of what was being described. For example, “the symbols dance together”, referring to Yoon’s name written in Korean. I was able to picture a symbol that flowed and a series of marks that “went together.” Another sentence that created an image for me was, “I sat by the window and watched a little robin hop in the yard.” I could picture exactly what she was seeing because of my prior knowledge on birds, but also because of the description. I thought the illustrations were awesome in this book. They were very detailed and that added to the book. For example, show more one page said, “I wanted to be a cat. I wanted to hide in a corner. My mother would find me and cuddle up close to me. I would close my eyes and mew quietly.” The illustration showed Yoon as half a cat. Half of her face was drawn as herself and they other half was her as a cat. This was interesting and again, helped to create the image in my mind. On another page, Yoon exclaimed, “I wanted to be a cupcake.” On this page, the illustrator drew her as a cupcake. Lastly, I loved the plot of this story and how it ties into the theme of identity. Yoon just moved from Korea and doesn’t want to write her name in English. Finally, she writes “Yoon” at the end and realizes her name still means “shining wisdom”, like it did in Korean. I like how the author shows us Yoon’s perspective. For example, the quote, “she wrote cat on the chalkboard. She read a story about a cat. I did not know what her words meant.” We as readers get a chance to see into her world and how hard it is to keep up in a class when she doesn’t understand the teacher. The main idea is that no matter what, you are you and nothing, not even moving away from your country, can take that away from you. show less

Yoon has just moved to the United States and is about to start school. When she is taught to print her name in English she rejects it, prefering the way the characters look in Korean and the meaning they have. Because she doesn't identify with "YOON" she imagines her name as the other words she is learning in school: "CAT," "BIRD," and "CUPCAKE." This is a story about adjusting to change while remaining true to one's own identity. Yoon is a likable, believable character who I think many children, especially those who have experienced moving or learning a second language, could identify with. The illustrations are light and painterly, with an unusual surreal quality that takes some getting used to. While I personally find the style show more unappealing, I feel that the illustrations suit the feel and message of the text well. Recommended for lower elementary school students, especially in areas with a recent immigrant population. show less