Tales of a Korean Grandmother

This multicultural children’s book presents classic Korean fairy tales and other folk stories--providing a delightful look into a rich literary culture.

The Korean people possess a folklore tradition as colorful and captivating as any in the world, and yet the stories themselves are not as widely-known to Western readers as those from The Brothers Grimm, Mother Goose, or Hans Christian Andersen.

In her bestselling book for young readers, Frances Carpenter has collected thirty-two classic Korean children’s stories from the ＂Land of the Morning Calm＂ the woodcutter and the old men of the mountain; the puppy who saved his village from a tiger; the singing girl who danced the Japanese general into the deep river; Why the dog and cat are not friends; and even a more familiar tale of the clever rabbit who outsmarted the tortoise. The children of the Kim family sit at their beloved Grandmother’s knee to listen to these and other traditional folk tales which are rooted in thousands of years of Korean culture.

Frances Carpenter (1890-1972) had a love of foreign lands and cultures, which she observed closely during her extensive travels--first with her journalist and author father and later with her diplomat husband. During her lifetime she traveled more than 100,000 miles across a number of continents. She was a fellow for the Royal Geographical Society, Vice President of the International Society of Woman Geographers, and president of the Smith College Alumnae Association.