The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi

Image

Figure 1. The Name Jar book cover (2019).

Evaluation of Book

Yangsook Choi’s book, The Name Jar, tells the story of a young Korean girl moving to America with her family and feeling uncertain about herself. When the people on her school bus mispronounce her name, she decides she wants an American name. When she announces this to her class, the students attempt to help by writing names on slips of paper that they put into a glass jar. All week Unhei tries out the names in the jar, but none of them fit her. In the end, Unhei decides to teach her class how to pronounce her name so that she can keep a piece of Korea with her in America.

The entire multicultural picture book focuses on the conflict of the plot, what name will Unhei go by in America. This common issue plagues many people that move to America. Some decide to change their name or Americanize it, while others stick with their original name. For Unhei, the positive actions of others allow her to make the decision by the end of the book. First, the kindness of Unhei’s grandmother giving her a wooden block with her name carved into it along with a letter from grandma help Unhei feel more comfortable with her name. Then Mr. Kim at Kim’s Market praises her name, sharing that it means grace. Each of these positive gestures plus the students in her class wanting her to be happy helps Unhei feel more comfortable with her birth name, the one she ultimately picks.

Yangsook Choi does a brilliant job of establishing the setting throughout the book using illustrations. Each place appears to be painted, depicting where the events take place: airport, bus, classroom, apartment, the street with the market place, and inside Mr. Kim’s market. Each picture shows details to let you know what Unhei saw. For the apartment, the style is Korean and the food the mother serves appears to also be Korean. And for the street with the market, the multicultural shops with a variety of people from different backgrounds lets the reader know that Unhei moved to a diverse area. While simplistic, the familiarity of each illustration gives the reader a connection to where the events took place.

The illustrations also assist in developing the plot while reinforcing the text. One good example, the bus riders’ facial expressions and the size of most of the children show that they might be Unhei’s age and most likely not hostile despite the insensitive way they approached Unhei’s name. Also, the children in Unhei’s class look kind, while curious, when she first arrives. And by the end of the book when Unhei teaches the class about her name, Unhei’s face glows with happiness while the teacher and students all pay attention. These extra details help support the story and let the reader know the emotions and actions of everyone in the pictures.

Response

I have a personal attachment to The Name Jar. When living in Korea back in 2003, I bought this book for myself because it depicted the feelings and lives of my Korean students at Seoul International School. Many of the kids picked out American names because their parents or themselves believed they needed a Western name when being taught by Westerners. And my views were strengthened by the outcome of this book, to cherish individuality instead of expecting assimilation in all aspects of a person’s life when they move elsewhere. This way works better typically because the individual does not get confused by having more than one name. And I completely enjoyed the text, shedding tears again when she finally picks her real name and when Joey visits to show that Mr. Kim helped him pick out a Korean nickname, Chinku, which means friend.

Conclusion

The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi is a must read for elementary students on up. Every age can enjoy this book and learn a bit about another culture in the process. Plus reading books like this one helps people see through the eyes of others and rethink the reasoning behind the way others act. Out of four stars, I give this book four.

Citation

Choi, Y. (2001). The name jar. New York, NY: Dell Dragonfly Books.

Willis, C. (2019). The name jar book cover (photo). Retrieved March 15, 2019 from https://drive.google.com/file/d/1vaguUadgvTlOxYtRkUV6tnBWByQ2fWUN/view?usp=sharing