Behind the Mask
Kindergarten-Grade 2–When his friends ask him what he will be for Halloween, Korean-American Kimin tells them that he will be his grandfather. The children don't think that it will be very exciting to dress as an old man, but the boy knows better. Before he died, his grandfather had been a famous mask dancer in Korea, and Kimin has two boxes of costumes, photos, and memorabilia from his career. He picks a mask that had scared him years before when he had visited his grandfather and shows his friends some dance moves as they go trick-or-treating. The children go to his house and all end up dancing and looking at the beautiful masks. The illustrations in muted fall colors enhance the story beautifully, and include endpapers with the stylized masks depicted. This is an evocative look at a Korean tradition and an interesting intergenerational and multicultural story for Halloween.–Judith Constantinides, formerly at East Baton Rouge Parish Main Library, LACopyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.