Korean and English Nursery Rhymes: Wild Geese, Land of Goblins and Other Favorite Songs and Rhymes by Danielle Wright and illustrated by Helen Acraman is a bright and colorful book with audio files included, which will appeal to youngsters.
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Thanks go to Tuttle Publishing who kindly sent us a copy of this book in exchange for our honest review.
The songs are written in 3 ways:
- Each line of the nursery rhyme is told first in Korean.
- Secondly, in the English alphabet using Korean pronunciation.
- And thirdly, the rhymes are written in the English translation.
Children can learn the meaning of the nursery rhymes by reading the English translations and that will help them and to better visualise what they are hearing as they perhaps follow along using the English pronunciation. Or, if your child is familiar with Korean, then they can read the Korean text.
There is a free CD included with this book, as well as additional bonus material that can be downloaded from the internet, using the link provided in the book, which are great additions for those who are not familiar with the music or the language.
Hearing different styles of music from around the world opens children up with wider minds. They are little sponges and they will become more appreciative of many different genres of music, both worldwide and locally as well.
It would be interesting to see children around the ages of maybe three to five listen to the rhymes for the first time and how they react. How they move with the songs, how they learn them. There are fewer connotations and fewer inhibitions at that age.
My children enjoyed music from around the world when they were younger, and they still do, however, I didn’t have Korean children’s music at that time, though I did play some K-Pop in our mix.
There are a couple of rhymes that have actions and games, just like we have in English. Little Fox is played like Duck, Duck, Goose, which will make it so much fun to play this in a group (or large family) and with repeated repetition, of course, it will be easier to remember and enjoy.
So if you have children and children. And you would like to introduce them to the Korean culture listen and incorporate it into your lessons, or you can have it playing in the background, perhaps as you read All About Korea or Korean Fairy Tales and help your child appreciate the cultures around them and in the wider world.
If you’re interested in purchasing Korean and English Nursery Rhymes, it’s available through:
- Tuttle Publishing
- Amazon
- Great bookstores near you
If you’d like to know more or would like to follow Tuttle Publishing, you can connect with them through their website, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest (and you can see our other Tuttle reviews here).
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