A Song of Pots: Stories by Ja Youn Kim – English Translation by Seung Ae Kim

978-1-62212-984-3-SKimCoverAbout the Book

The seven stories in A Song of Pots contain their own unique lessons or precious messages about life—messages that I believe will be greatly helpful to small children. I translated A Song of Pots into English. I enjoyed the stories as much as small children probably would. All the stories in the book are like the sun shining in the blue sky and stars sparkling in the dark night. They develop their plots based mainly on nature and human relationships. I believe that children will enjoy the meaningful stories in this book. “A Child Called Sunflower” dealt with an unlucky experience the writer Ja Youn Kim went through as an elementary school student. Sol Yee in the story said that the white cloud over the sky and the stones at the flower garden saw her pick the money off the floor, when she was almost a thief. How attractive! The reader may be charmed at her purifying attitude. “Dreaming Coin” dealt with a cooperative life, and “Strange Glasses” also a fresh courage. “Zzang Ah and Chorong” and “The Large Snowflakes Fell” enable us to consider what is really precious. Especially “A Song of Pots” now appears in the regular text for all elementary school students in South Korea. The frustrated, cracked pot in the story opened his heart wide to the exhausted wind which wanted to rest there. It finally realized that an empty pot might well be filled with something soon and was not different from other filled ones. This story teaches us that anyone can have hope. Also, in “Yellow Egg and White Egg,” we can learn that each one’s true value can be revealed when the right time comes. Everyone must wait for the right time. In the story Mother Hen gave a good piece of advice to the yellow egg, but the short-tempered yellow egg continued to peck inside its shell. At last it was in danger.

About the Author

Seung Ae Kim, who translated A Song of Pots into English, graduated with BA and PhD degrees from the Department of English Language and Literature at Chonbuk National University in South Korea. She was an English teacher in Seo Young Girls’ High School and currently teaches at Chonbuk National University. She is the English translator of Upon the Other Shore I am Water.
Ja Youn Kim, who wrote A Song of Pots, was born in Kim Je, South Korea. She was awarded the Bang Jung Hwan Prize for the best children’s story writer in South Korea, as well as the Jeonbuk Children’s Literature Prize. She also wrote Granma Hoping to Become a Bird, a book of children’s poetry called The Sky Caught in the Cold, and some other children’s story books.