

His feet are visible, but it's not clear whether he's floating in the deep end or standing in the shallow. The line “I wish you more tippy-toes than deep” accompanies a picture of a boy happily swimming in a pool. It starts out simply enough: two children run pell-mell across an open field, one holding a high-flying kite with the line “I wish you more ups than downs.” But on subsequent pages, some of the analogous concepts are confusing or ambiguous. 4-8)Ī collection of parental wishes for a child. The paintings are done in creamy, earth-tone oils and augment the story nicely. Choi ( Earthquake, see below, etc.) draws from her own experience, interweaving several issues into this touching account and delicately addressing the challenges of assimilation. When the day arrives for Unhei to announce her chosen name, she discovers how much Joey has helped. One student, Joey, takes a particular liking to Unhei and sees the beauty in her special stamp. But I’ll let you know next week.” Her classmates write suggested names on slips of paper and place them in a jar. Lesson learned, she declines to tell her name to anyone else and instead offers, “Um, I haven’t picked one yet. Unhei is ashamed when the children on the bus find her name difficult to pronounce and ridicule it. As she rides the school bus toward her first day of school, she remembers the farewell at the airport in Korea and examines the treasured gift her grandmother gave her: a small red pouch containing a wooden block on which Unhei’s name is carved.

Unhei has just left her Korean homeland and come to America with her parents.
