Wish Soup: A Celebration of Seollal
by Junghwa Park (Author)
Celebrate Korean Lunar New Year and join one child's quest to eat enough bowls of soup to become a "big girl!"
Sohee's favorite part of Seollal is tteokguk--the special Korean rice cake soup traditionally only enjoyed on New Year's Day. Each bowl is said to make the person who eats it one year older. This year, Sohee wants to eat as many bowls as she can to finally be an eonni, or "big girl," to her younger siblings and cousins.
Before Sohee can even get to her first bowl, though, she's interrupted by a series of holiday-related chores, leaving plenty of opportunity for her mischievous younger sister Somi to eat not only Sohee's tteokguk, but their whole family's! Despite this outrageously silly setback, Sohee eventually learns that being a big girl is more than just how many bowls of tteokguk you eat.
This funny story of a child's journey to discover what it really means to be a big girl explores the traditions of Korean Lunar New Year and the value of family and helpfulness.
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Publishers Weekly
On Seollal, young Sohee looks forward to becoming a "real eonni," or "big girl"--and being too cool to hang out with younger cousins and little sister Somi. It's Seollal tradition to "bow to the elders in our family, fill fortune pockets with gifts of money and wisdom, and--my favorite--eat tteokguk"--a rice cake soup that renders everyone "one year older for every bowl we eat!" Intent on securing older-sibling status, Sohee prepares to eat her tteokguk. But each time she goes to take a bite, a holiday chore interrupts, and before long, Sohee finds her bowl all eaten up. Across expressive digitally finished watercolor, colored pencil, and oil pastel spreads, Park's solo debut guides readers through the celebration's traditions until, Mom's gentle consolation--and an extra bowl of tteokguk--reassures Sohee that she's a real eonni after all. A tteokguk recipe concludes. Ages 4-8. (Dec.)
Copyright 2023 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.School Library Journal
PreS-Gr 2--Sohee is excited for this Seollal, because she'll be a big girl and too cool to hang out with her younger sister. While multiple traditions of the Lunar New Year holiday are discussed, Sohee focuses on tteokguk--a delicious soup that, according to her grandfather, makes you a year older for every bowl you eat. So Sohee must eat more than her sister! After preparing the soup, she can't wait for her first bite; but she is called away to help set the table, invite everyone to eat, and then help her younger brother. When she finally returns, her younger sister has eaten her soup, and everyone else's, too! Does that make her sister the big girl now? Luckily her mother has an extra bowl and reassures her that her actions, not the soup, are what make her a big girl. Humor is conveyed through Park's watercolor illustrations, especially when Sohee's young sister is depicted with a larger-than-life mouth, dumping in bowl after bowl of soup. Sohee and her family are Korean. Back matter includes a recipe for tteokguk. VERDICT A fun story focusing on sibling holiday high jinks. Recommended for all holiday collections.--Jennifer Rothschild
Copyright 2023 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
JUV030020 - Juvenile Fiction | People & Places | Asia
JUV050000 - Juvenile Fiction | Cooking & Food
JUV017080 - Juvenile Fiction | Holidays & Celebrations | Other, Non-Religious
Family life
Korean Americans
Korean American families
Korean Lunar New Year
