The Name Jar

Yangsook Choi’s The Name Jar traces the literal journey of Unhei from her home in South Korea to her new life in the United States. Unhei faces a new land, a new language, a new school, even a new alphabet! When children on her first day of school butchered her name, Unhei starts believing that a new country must mean she needs to pick a new name.

“I don’t want to be different from all the American kids” Unhei tells her mom. Her classmates help her out by adding slips of paper with name suggestions in a jar.

I spent a year in Buncheon Province and taught English near Inchon, and the soft illustrations — complete with the traditional hanbok sported by Unhei’s grandmother and the beautiful name stamp — warmed my heart and show more evoked memories. A lovely, lovely book whether or not you’ve ever been a stranger in a new land. show less

This book tells the tale of a student uprooted from her home country and placed in an environment where seemingly her peers are unkind and unwelcoming. I love this story because it shows a struggle that could be true of any student in the classrooms of the world. Unhei, the new kid in school from Korea, has a hard time deciding what to tell her peers her name is. She wants it to be something easy and desirable for everyone to begin to call her as she starts her new life. Pondering on the idea of a new name, Unhei discovers that her name is just that, her name. It is beautiful, it is radiant, it's unique, but most importantly it's hers. This story speaks to the many underrepresented groups in the united states, the world even, whose show more members attempt to strip away at layers of who they truly are to feel welcomed by society-to BE welcomed by society. The big picture is to simply be you and be you unapologetically. show less

I gave this book a 5/5 because it was so fascinating and inspiring. This girl who came from Korea and had a beautiful Korean name was scared she would be made fun of for it. I was so sad for her because bullying is a very scary thing to have to go through. She wasn't sure how to introduce herself so she said she would have a name by the next week of class. So for a whole week all the kids were putting new names in this jar for her to pick! It was the cutest thing because all the kids were so understanding and really trying to help her! As the week went on she found out that she loved her own name and would be keeping that one! It was a beautiful story about finding your identify and being confident in yourself at such a young age. She show more really inspired me, this young child feeling proud of her own name even though it sounded different from the other kids. All the other kids loved her name after they found out her real one! And they loved being able to try and help her! This book was all about helping and caring and it was very cute! I will for sure be using this book in my library one day! show less

The Name Jar is a sweet book about a little girl named Unhei who moves from Korea to America with her family. One her first day of school she is uncertain with how to introduce herself because she doesn't want to seem different from her American classmates with her foreign name. Her mother encourages her to embrace her beautiful name and her culture as well. At school the next day, her kind classmates create a name jar for her to pick a name from. A boy named Joey sees Unhei's name stamp from her grandmother and tells her that she has a beautiful name. The next day at school, she wants to choose her name, but her jar is gone. She decides to stick with her name. Soon after, she discovers her new friend Joey stole the jar becuase her show more wanted her to be herself.
This book highlights a unique problem that many immigrant children face. Identity can be a hard topic to handle, but this book did it well. Culture is represented in a tasteful way as well. I enjoyed it and think this suits primary readers. show less

I gave this chapter book five stars because it had a very good theme/purpose behind it and would be great to use in a classroom where there are English Language Learners present. This book was about a little Korean girl who came to an American school with a very Korean-sounding name; Unhei. When a child asked what her name was and she told them, they had a difficult time pronouncing it, which didn't make her feel very good. She realized that she had not picked out an Americanized name yet and began contemplating her options. As she was deciding what she wanted her American name to be, people would ask her what her name was and she would tell them that she did not have one yet. Her classmates then decided that they were going to help her show more pick out a name by creating a name jar for her. As students began thinking of names, they wrote them down on a piece of paper and put them into the name jar. Unhei would look at the names in the jar every day, but could not find one that she wanted. One day, Unhei went to the Korean supermarket in her neighborhood and saw one of her classmates there. The market owner called out Unhei's name to get her attention, and her classmate looked puzzled because he didn't think that she had a name. When Unhei told her classmate how to pronounce her name and he did it correctly, she realized that she liked her name and didn't want an American name. The following day at school, Unhei stood at the front of the class, told her classmates that her name was Unhei, and taught them how to pronounce it. By reading this book to students, especially those who are from another country, they will learn to have pride in their cultures and customs, and not feel the need to fit in with the American culture in every way. This book would also teach students who were born in America to appreciate and respect diversity among their classmates and peers. show less

The illustrations in this book are incredible and I love the colors and simplicity as the blank backgrounds really guide reader to focus on the characters. Although sometimes wordy the book describes the feelings of Unhei, a young girl from Korea, as she transitions into going to school in America. What I appreciate the most about this book is the influence of her mother, neighborhood and eventually the other students as they encourage Unhei to embrace her name and her culture.

In my opinion, this children’s book was a powerful story, and I loved it! The book was about a girl Unhei, who came to America from Korea. As she entered school in what seemed like a different world, she was scared and was too shy to announce to her classmates her real Korean name. “Unhei smiled broadly and tried not to show her nervousness. ‘What’s your name,’ someone shouted.” With the help of the other students, they began to create a name jar for Unhei with creative ideas of American names she could go by. Throughout the story, the new girl’s classmates helped her remember the Korean meaning behind her name, and the importance of it. At the end of the book, Unhei was sure of the decision she made to go by her real show more Korean name. I loved how the author incorporated Unhei’s Korean background. She let the readers in on some traditions in their culture, as well as included some background information. I also really enjoyed the theme of the story and how the children came together to help Unhei find her own courage and find what was most important to her. Readers can learn about what it was like for a young girl like Unhei to immigrant into America and give other children the ability to understand what she may have felt like while doing so. In addition, the illustrations added so much to the book and told a story of their own. Each picture spoke for itself and shared the meaning of confidence, courage, and friendship. show less