I like children’s books. I like the Korean language. So my recent decision to try to read one Korean kid’s book each week as part of my efforts to learn the language seems destined to be a win-win. Here’s the book. It’s very low level, of course – such is my proficiency with Korean.
The book is called 모양 나라에 온 도깨비, which I would translate as “The gnome who came to the land of shapes.” It’s not really a gnome – a 도깨비 [do-kkae-bi] is a native Korean fairy-tale creature that’s kind of a cross between a gnome and a unicorn, maybe.
Here’s the cover.
The first page introduces the land of triangles.
Other shapes are introduced, farther along. Then all the various shapes, who seem to live in segregated neighborhoods, all run into each other while on a picnic. The plot thickens. So does the Korean – this next was a difficult page to decipher.
A rough translation of this page:
Hello, triangles!
You guys are a little bit weird-looking.
Hello, rectangles!
Really funny-looking.
Hello, circles!
First time ever to see such faces.
Then things get bad. There’s a wind-storm; the shapes get mixed up with each other, and then the gnome shows up. Oh noes!
But it’s a kid’s book. There’s a happy ending.
