Book Review: New Clothes for New Year's Day

The very nice people at Kane Miller Publishing sent me two books to review a while back, and I published a review of one of them, Yellow Umbrella here.  I loved the second book, New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyun-joo Bae as well, but sort of forget to post my review.  I was going through some of my son's books today, and came across this lovely book, and thought that it  would make a great holiday gift for a child with a Korean heritage, or for any child or family interested in cultural traditions.

This beautifully illustrated book from South Korea chronicles a young girl's excitement over her family's Lunar New Year celebration.  As she dresses for the event, she shows each piece of her elaborate clothing, from the "rainbow-striped jacket" of the hanbok to the silk pouch on a string for luck.  The drawings start out simply, and build in their richness of design and detail as the little girl adds a new piece of clothing.  At the end, the author explains Korean New Year celebrations, including the ceremonial soup that makes everyone a year older.  It is gorgeous book, and one I hope to pass along to my grandchildren some day.

My family didn't celebrate Korean New Year in the traditional way, so this was new to me.  It's wonderful to find a book that explains some of our cultural traditions in a way that both my son and I can enjoy.

Interestingly, when my son interviewed my mother for a school project, he asked her what her favorite holiday memory was, and she said, "New Year's, because I got to wear pretty, new clothes."  Now I know what she was talking about. I think my mother would enjoy this book just as much as I did.

Disclosure:  I received a free copy of this book to review.  Cross-posted at Kimchi Mamas.