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Vendor
Mohrbooks Literary Agency
Sebastian Ritscher
Original language
English
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THE OCEAN CALLS

Tina Cho Jess X. Snow

A breathtaking picture book featuring a Korean girl and her haenyeo (free diving) grandmother about intergenerational bonds, finding courage in the face of fear, and connecting with our natural world.
Dayeon wants to be a haenyeo just like Grandma. The haenyeo dive off the coast of Jeju Island to pluck treasures from the sea--generations of women have done so for hundreds of years. To Dayeon, the haenyeo are as strong and graceful as mermaids. Grandma's relationship to the ocean has developed over time, and Dayeon's is just beginning. A scary past encounter keeps Dayeon clinging to the shore, but with Grandma's guidance, Dayeon plunges deep and comes to appreciate the ocean's many gifts.

Tina Cho's The Ocean Calls, with luminous illustrations by muralist Jess X. Snow, is a classic in the making.

Tina Cho teaches at an international school and writes for the children's and educational markets. Though she grew up in Iowa, she now lives in South Korea. In her free time, she enjoys playing her electronic piano, careful not to bother her many neighbors in the high-rise apartment building she lives in with her family.

Jess X. Snow is a queer migrant Asian-Canadian artist, filmmaker, and Pushcart-nominated poet based in Brooklyn. A graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, they are currently an MFA candidate in writing/directing and cinematography at NYU Graduate Film. Their art has found a home on the facades of seven-story buildings, the pages of children's books, and tiny lapel pins. Learn more about their work at http://www.jessxsnow.com/ and follow them on Twitter @jessxsnow.
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Book

Published 2020-08-04 by Kokila

Comments

[A] must-have for any collection.

In Cho and Snow's celebration of this fascinating tradition, the risks and rewards are given only to the worthy... The sea, with equal parts danger and thrill, makes an exciting training ground for a young haenyeo diver.

This sweet story of a girl overcoming her fear to experience something wondrous and share in an inherited tradition also offers a slice of life that will be new and fascinating to many readers... Details about the haenyeo tradition and history shared in the afterword, including quotes from real-life women in their seventies and eighties, show the depth of the community and family relationships so beautifully portrayed in the story.

Sturdy prose by Cho (Rice from Heaven) highlights a segment of Korean society whose women preserve a vibrant tradition of enterprise, stamina, and cooperation, and Grandma shines as a kind of generous real-life superhero.

Use this sweet story about family tradition, trust, and confidence to support STEM units on weather and tides, sea life, and ecology (the haenyeo are model conservationists). This engaging story with its alluring illustrations also makes a wonderful choice for a read-aloud.

THE OCEAN CALLS is a Kirkus Best Children's Books of 2020 Booklist Editors' Choice: Youth Books, 2020 Fall 2020 Kids' Indie Next List