About this item
Getting to feel at home in a new countryYoons name means "shining wisdom," and when she writes it in Korean, it looks happy, like dancing figures. But her father tells her that she must learn to write it in English. In English, all the lines and circles stand alone, which is just how Yoon feels in the United States. Yoon isnt sure that she wants to be YOON. At her new school, she tries out different names -- maybe CAT or BIRD. Maybe CUPCAKE!Helen Recorvitss spare and inspiring story about a little girl finding her place in a new country is given luminous pictures filled with surprising vistas and dreamscapes by Gabi Swiatkowska.My Name Is Yoon is a Bank Street Best Childrens Book of the Year.
About the Author
Helen Recorvits was born in Rhode Island and graduated from Rhode Island College with a degree in education and psychology. She went on to earn a Master's degree and also a certification in gifted and talented education. A former educator, Helen now devotes her time to writing and to speaking at conferences and literary events.
Her first novel, GOODBYE WALTER MALINSKI(Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1999) was chosen a National Council for Social Studies Notable Trade Book, and her second novel WHERE HEROES HIDE(2002) also received many fine reviews.
In 2003, her first picture book MY NAME IS YOON was published by FSG. YOON was chosen as an outstanding book of the year by the New York Is Book Country Committee, and was also named an ALA Notable Children's Book and an IRA Notable Books for a Global Society. It was listed as a Best Book of the Year by Child Magazine,Family Magazine, Bank Street Books, Publishers Weekly, and School Library Journal, and it was also a Booklist Editors' Choice. YOON also received the Ezra Jack Keats New Illustrator Award.
YOON AND THE CHRISTMAS MITTEN (2006) was chosen an NCSS-CBC Notable Trade Book in the Field of Social Studies book.
YOON AND THE JADE BRACELET(2008)
was chosen a Society of School Librarians International Honor Book and a Bank Street Best Children's Book of the Year.
Her books have been translated into Danish, French, Japanese, Korean, and Spanish.
Helen says,"I remember my mother reading to me when I was two years old. My favorite books were Cinderella and The Pokey Little Puppy. I began writing my own stories and sharing them with my cousins when I was eight years old. When I was a teenager, I wrote a weekly column for a local newspaper."
Today Helen, mother of two grown sons, lives with her husband in the peaceful, woodsy town of Glocester, Rhode Island. Helen says, "I love reading and writing stories about interesting characters -- people trying to find their place in life, people with hope in their hearts."
