Crab Cake by Andrea Tsurumi
It was an unexpected surprise when I saw Andrea Tsurumi’s name on the course syllabus of the SVA Summer Residency I attended. It was an even bigger coincidence because we had been introduced through a mutual friend and discussed her experiences changing career paths to become an incredible illustrator and children’s book creator. Spoiler alert: her work reflects her background: incredible and is just as prestigious as it is practical.
The first book of hers we actually bought was, “Accident.” Ironically, we own it in English and Chinese (which no one except grandma and grandpa can read.) It’s a favorite of mine and I can’t wait to add the Korean version to our library someday.
“Crab Cake” is a wonderful story with beautiful illustrations. The pictures will captivate your little ones. There are layers upon layers for you to read and examine. Tsurumi includes a lot of fun dialog, descriptions, and sound effects. If you have a younger child, you can skip these and stick to the main story. But, if you’re playing to a longer attention span, you can get into all the details. Older kids will have fun noticing new things on each page with every read. (This is one of our favorite things about “Crab Cake” and “Accident.”)
If your Korean level is on the beginner side, this book might be challenging at first. But, reading the English version alongside will easily take care of any confusion. (Similar to watching a drama with the subtitles on!) And, after you read it aloud a couple of times, it will be rolling off your tongue in no time. I got my Korean copy from a friend who was visiting Seoul. If you have a local Korean bookstore, ask them to special order it for you. Or, try one of the online shops I recommend in my post about buying Korean books.
Do you have “Crab Cake” or any of Andrea Tsurumi’s other books? I would love to know which ones and if you love them as much as we do!