Yoon and the Jade Bracelet

Yoon and the Jade Bracelet is an inspiring story about a young girl named Yoon, and her experience with standing up to bully. Yoon enters a new school as the new girl, and befriends a girl who is not what she seems to be. Yoon and the girl jumprope together, and the girl asks her to trade her new bracelet for lessons on how to jumprope the next day. Yoon agrees, and when she arrives to school the next day, the girl refuses to give back the bracelet, claiming its her. Yoon feels defeated until her teacher steps up and confronts the girl for taking her bracelet. Yoon confronts the young girl and gets back her bracelet. I feel that Yoon matures so much in this short span of this story! She starts off as the shy, new girl, and learns to not show more let people walk all over her, starting with the girl that she thought was her friend. This is such an inspirational story, and I feel that all children should read this book to build self confidence! show less

Insightful story about Yoon, a young girl who has recently immigrated to the US from Korea. It is her birthday and she really wants a jump rope so she can fit in with the other girls in school and make friends. Instead she receives a Korean storybook and a jade bracelet. The jade bracelet is very special as it represents truth and friendship as well as good luck and it is tradition for young girls to receive a bracelet.

At school the next day a girl tricks Yoon into giving her the bracelet. Once Yoon realizes she's been tricked, she is upset. However, because Yoon knew the history of the bracelet and the meaning of the symbolism, the other girl knew she was caught and had to return the bracelet to Yoon.

Wonderful lessons and show more conversation starters around the topics of true friendship, appreciating cultural traditions, and wanting to fit into a new culture. Yoon also begins to realize ulterior motivations of others. show less

Yoon believes that a jump rope would help her make friends at her new school, but her mother’s birthday gift of a jade bracelet teaches her more about true friendship than a recess jumping rope. Helen Recorvit’s story reflects a Korean tale of a tiger who tricks a little girl, as Yoon is lured into “loaning” her new jade bracelet to a girl who asks her to jump rope with her. Instead of disappointing her mother by telling her that she lost the bracelet, Yoon determines to get it back through persistence, honesty, and intelligence. Gabi Swiatkowska’s soft illustrations – while not incredibly detailed – are colorful and not lacking in depth. The backgrounds of the illustrations often provide clues to mood through color or show more literary allusions such as the outline of a tiger when the older girl will not initially return the bracelet. This book will be ideal for more patient children who can sit through its uneven pacing and may relate to the story or participate in its reading. This would be a good addition to a public library with an ethnically diverse population. show less

I enjoyed this book and it depicts how important culture is. Yoon, a young Korean girl in a new environment, was yearning to make friends, she obviously feels inadequate or different and was hoping a jump robe would bring her new friends but rather she learns the value of tradition and also a confidence boost as she "tricks the tiger" that wanted to steal her bracelet.
The illustrations are easy to follow but the colours were a bit dull and I feel children may loose interest while reading this book as the pictures are not captivating enough

Summary: This book is about a little girl from Korea that now lives in America with her family. On her birthday her mother gives her a jade bracelet and a book abut a girl who was tricked by a tiger. The next day at school an older girl asks Yoon to play with her, but then later she asks Yoon for her bracelet. Yoon reluctantly gives the older girl her bracelet, but then later the older girl would not give the bracelet back to her. Yoon eventually comes up with a way to get her bracelet back from the older girl.

Personal reaction: I thought this was a great book about bravery and courage. I loved learning that in the Korean culture that wearing jade will bring you good luck, truth, and friendship. Learning about other cultures has alway show more been fascinating to me so I really enjoyed all of the little details in this book.

Extension ideas:
1. As a teacher, I would discuss with the children in my classroom why it is wrong to take things from our friends. We would also discuss why it is important to always tell the truth.
2. For an activity, I would have the children make their own jade bracelets out of pipe cleaners and green beads.
3. To help the children get some energy out, I would bring a jump rope to school so the children could jump rope like the children in the book. show less

Yoon is a young girl who moved from Korea to America. It's her birthday and she wants a jump rope to fit in with all the others girl since she is the new girl. But her mother got her a storybook but she still longed for the jump rope. Then her mother gave her a jade bracelet that was given to her when she was a young girl and Yoon loved it. Jade is a stone from earth, but it is called the gem of the heavens. A girl from school loves Yoon's bracelet and tricks her into giving it to her to keep. When she tries to get her bracelet back the girl laughs and pushes her calling her a pest. When Yoon explains the symbolism of the bracelet, she is forced to give it back. This story shows that it's not okay to steal from people and how you're show more supposed to properly treat people. I learned about what a Jade stone is and what is means. I think the illustrations in this story are a little dull so it might be hard to keep the students attention. show less

This book is about Yoon, a young Korean girl. She is new at school and desperately wants to make friends and play jump rope with the other girls. Her birthday is coming up and she wants a jump rope. She is a little disappointed when she gets a Korean story book about a girl who was tricked by a tiger. Then her mother gives her a jade bracelet that her mother had given her when she was a little girl. At school she is tricked by an older girl that tells her that in America, friends are supposed to share stuff. Yoon gives up her precious bracelet. The other girl says she will give it back tomorrow but when the time comes, she says that it is her bracelet. Yoon finds a way to get her bracelet back and feels like she has "tricked the tiger". show more

This was a wonderful book with a good story. I believe it is culturally specific as the book talks about the jade stone, the Korean story book about the tiger, and also about Yoon's Korean name being etched inside the bracelet. It gives several details that make the book more specific.

This book would be good to use to allow the children to act out. I think it would give them a good idea of treating each other fairly. This could also be used in a unit on cultural diversity. show less