Peach Heaven
by Yangsook Choi (Author) Yangsook Choi (Illustrator)
An updated version of a timeless story, perfect for springtime, this picture book is set in Korea by a Korean American author/illustrator about an extraordinary day of wonder, kindness, and delicious peaches.
“What is the best thing about where you live? Tell us something unusual about it.”
I smiled as I wrote, “Peaches.”
The white peaches grown in Bucheon are the best in all of South Korea, and a rare treat for a young Yangsook. She dreams of a peach orchard where she can play and eat as much of the delicious fruit as she wishes. Then one day, after hours of sudden heavy downpours, the sky begins to rain peaches. Yangsook finds herself in peach heaven—until she remembers the farmers who have lost their harvest, and decides she must help them.
Fully revised and re-illustrated, Peach Heaven is a timeless ode to human kindness and childhood wonder based on the author’s early life.
Locate at a Library Near You WorldCat is the world's largest library catalog, helping you find library materials online.
Find books about:
School Library Journal
Gr 1-3--Choi looks back to a childhood storm in the mountains of her Korean home that flooded the streets and brought the entire peach harvest raining down on their heads. Because of the water-filled streets, the fruit floated and so was miraculously whole and unblemished. After enjoying tasting, then devouring, peach after peach--the pride of their region--the people realize the devastation brought to the mountain farmers who had intended to harvest the peaches at their peak. A plan is made. But one peach pit survived in Choi's backyard. An author's note tells of the single liberty she took with the telling. VERDICT Though first published in 2005, this edition's new illustrations bring it firmly up to date, in a memoir that reads like a fairy tale of a community touched by a miracle.--Ginnie Abbott
Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Publishers Weekly
In 1976 Bucheon, young Yangsook is busy with homework, writing about "the best peaches in all of South Korea," which are grown nearby. Though the "orchards painted the mountainside pink and orange," the sweet fruits are expensive and can be hard to come by. Suddenly, an August storm sends peaches raining from the skies outside, carried down from the mountain. Yangsook gathers the windfall in an umbrella, and the family feasts on peaches that night. Later, realizing that the peach farmers on the mountainside have lost this year's crop, the child comes up with a plan to restore part of their harvest. Modeling intergenerational community cooperation, Choi's story, fully revised and re-illustrated nearly two decades after its initial publication, captures a moment in time via watercolor and pencil depictions that lean fittingly on green and peach hues. An author's note concludes. Ages 4-8. (July)
Copyright 2024 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.Kirkus
Review quotes
"Though first published in 2005, this edition's new illustrations bring it firmly up to date, in a memoir that reads like a fairy tale of a community touched by a miracle." —School Library Journal (on the updated edition)
"Choi's vivid recollection of one extraordinary day takes on the timeless feel of a classic tale." —Publishers Weekly "The colored-pencil artwork, full-and double-page spread, has an appealing simplicity." —Booklist "Deftly told and gracefully illustrated, Choi's vibrant and appealing childhood recollection is a memorable tale of a young person making a difference." —The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books "Colorful illustrations clearly evoke the tale's setting and the emotions of the characters. Told from Yangsook's point of view, the narrative is sweet and direct." —School Library JournalJUV030020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Asia
JUV029020 - Juvenile Fiction | Nature & the Natural World | Weather
