When a young boy and his mother travel overseas to her childhood home
in Korea, the town is not as he imagined. Will he be able to see it the
way Mommy does?
This gentle, contemplative picture book about family origins invites us
to ponder the meaning of home. A young boy loves listening to his mother
describe the place where she grew up, a world of tall mountains and
friends splashing together in the river. Mommy's stories have let the
boy visit her homeland in his thoughts and dreams, and now he's old
enough to travel with her to see it for himself. But when mother and son
arrive, the town is not as he imagined. Skyscrapers block the mountains,
and crowds hurry past. The boy feels like an outsider--until they visit
the river where his mother used to play, and he sees that the spirit and
happiness of those days remain. Sensitively pitched to a child's-eye
view, this vivid story honors the immigrant experience and the timeless
bond between parent and child, past and present.