Yoon and the Jade Bracelet
Kindergarten-Grade 2—The child first introduced inMy Name Is Yoon(2003) andYoon and the Christmas Mitten(2006, both Farrar) returns in a story centered on her birthday. Yoon longs for a jump rope in order to join the other girls on the playground. Instead she receives a book and a precious family bracelet with her name, meaning "Shining Wisdom," engraved inside in Korean. Yoon is tricked into lending it to an older girl who promises to teach her how to jump rope. But when the girl refuses to return the bracelet, Yoon must figure some way to get it back. This story opens like the others, with the protagonist stating, "My name is Yoon. I came here from Korea, a country far away." It allows readers to discover aspects of Korean culture and to learn how a Korean-American child reconciles her two worlds. Swiatkowska's illustrations are full of texture, and her brushstrokes continue to become more open and loose. Here, the paintings occupy a large number of spreads, and backgrounds are completely filled with single colors, sometimes bold reds and aquas, other times more muted olives and grays. The large textured strokes, thickly applied paint, and distorted forms are in keeping with the symbolism of the jade bracelet and the imagery in the folktale that Yoon receives as birthday gifts.—Kim T. Ha, Elkridge Branch Library, MDCopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.