Picture Books That Communicate Across Language Barriers
I am just discovering picture book author Soyung Pak. I wanted to interview her so I tried my usual Google sleuthing but she seems to keep a pretty low social media profile. I’ll let you know if I am able to track her down but so far, no such luck.
I love, love, love her book Sumi’s First Day of School Ever which is a lovely and realistic story of the first day at school for a child who doesn’t speak English. And it had a happy ending which is probably not always the case in real life.
Dear Juno is another gem that, while it focuses on a Korean American experience, it transcends Asian American children’s literature and speaks to anyone who has family in another country that speaks another language that our kids do not understand.
Dear Juno by Soyung Pak, illustrated by Susan Kathleen Hartung
She reinforces two ideas:
Communicating without words.
The love between grandparents and grandchild transcends languages, continents, and time.
They are simple ideas but true and yet so hard to execute. Reading this story is a gentle nudge to me at least to try a little harder to keep in touch with loved ones that don’t live nearby. Like my cousin in Tokyo who is safe after that huge earthquake and tsunami and hails from Hiroshima where my mother’s ancestors are from. It was my sister that had the email and took the time to track him down. Yep, this is a nice reminder for both me and my kids to connect with a relative despite a language barrier.
Juno is a little boy who receives a letter from his grandmother in Korea. He can’t read Korean and his parents are busy with the usual household chores. Despite the language barrier, he is able to understand the letter though his mother eventually translates it for him. The letter is special as are the enclosures — a dried flower and a photo of his grandmother and her new cat. And Juno decides to write a letter back. One that will also transcend their language barrier. He makes several drawings and encloses a very large leaf. And so they write each other back and forth … at least until she comes to visit!
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My books:
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Barbed Wire Between Us by Mia Wenjen, illustrated by Violeta Encarnación
- ⭐ Starred review from Kirkus
- ⭐ Starred review from Publishers Weekly
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal
- Kirkus: The Most Anticipated Children’s Books of Spring 2026
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Gold Award
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
The Traveling Taco:
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Silver Award
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Reading Rockets’ Summer Reading Guide 2025
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
We Sing from the Heart: How the Slants® Took Their Fight for Free Speech to the Supreme Court
- ALSC Notable Children’s Book
- 2025 Carter G. Woodson Book Award Middle Level Honoree
- Orbis Pictus Recommended Book for Outstanding Nonfiction for Children
- 2024 Julia Ward Howe Prize for Children’s Literature Winner
- California Eureka Non-Fiction Award Honor Book
- Notable Social Studies Trade Books for Young People Winner (from National Council for the Social Studies and Children’s Book Council)
- Bank Street Best Children’s Books of the Year 2025
- Recommended Reading for the Social Justice Literature Award 2025 (International Literacy Association)
- Pennsylvania Mountain Laurel Book Award Nominee 2026-27
- Junior Library Guild Gold Selection
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- ⭐ Starred review from School Library Journal!
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Massachusetts Book Award Long List
- dPICTUS 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award Long List
- Nautilus Silver Winner, Nonfiction Children’s Picture Book
- Sunshine State Young Readers Award Orange Blossom List for Nonfiction
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Bank Street College’s The Best Children’s Books of the Year
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Did you ever contact Soyung Pak? Her books are wonderful and our school district would like to buy more copies of her book Sumi in paperback. If you have any information I would greatly appreciate it.
To Joy,
I found Sumi’s First Day of School ever at Amazon. Here’s the link: http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=pragmom-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=067003522X&ref=qf_sp_asin_til&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&m=amazon&lc1=0000FF&bc1=FFFFFF&bg1=FFFFFF&f=ifr
The book is out of print but there are some used and new copies for around $20.