"Juna is adorable, her facial expressions matching the honest emotion of the text. The role played by the book's title object is compelling as well, and you might want to prepare for a first reading to a child by having a jar of similar size and shape on hand." The New York Times
"Bahk's comforting picture-book debut, effortlessly multicultural, sparkles with the promise of imagination and friendship." Booklist
"The steady narrative repetition as Juna sleeps and seeks offers a reassuring pattern for children who might be missing their own Hectors. . . Fills a need for those children who find themselves adrift when their closest friends seemingly disappear." Kirkus Reviews
"Bahk never loses sight of the very real emotions that drive her pensive, curious, and openhearted heroine." Publishers Weekly
"Charming soft watercolor illustrations and a sweet story that tugs at the imagination provide a flight of fancy that youngsters will enjoy hearing again and again. . . Use this title in preschool storytimes or in the classroom to stimulate leaps of imagination." School Library Journal
"Debut author Jane Bahk introduces a charming young heroine with an imagination that helps her deal with her best friend leaving the neighborhood. . . Hoshino's playful approach makes clear what's real and what's in Juna's imagination." Shelf Awareness
Asian/Pacific American Award for Literature - Asian/Pacific American Librarians Association (APALA)
Best Multicultural Books - Center for the Study of Multicultural Children's Literature Grand Canyon Reader Award - Arizona Library Association Junior Library Guild Selection New Voices Award Winner - Lee & Low Books Notable Books for a Global Society - International Literacy Association (ILA)
In Hoshino's lyrical and delicately detailed watercolor illustrations, Juna is adorable, her facial expressions matching the honest emotion of the text. The role played by the book's title object is compelling as well, and you might want to prepare for a first reading to a child by having a jar of similar size and shape on hand.
The New York Times Book Review - Linda Sue Park
10/20/2014 A girl named Juna gets significant mileage—in more ways than one—out of an empty jar of kimchi in Bahk’s debut, which won the publisher’s New Voices Award. Juna is distraught after her friend Hector moves away suddenly; to cheer her up, her brother gets her a small fish, which she keeps in her jar. At night, “when everyone else was asleep,” Juna joins the fish on an imaginary underwater journey, and in the morning, “Juna’s fish had grown so big its mouth nearly touched its tail.” This surprising development sets the state for subsequent “was it really just a dream?” adventures, which eventually let Juna make peace with Hector’s absence. Hoshino (Sora and the Cloud) contributes warm watercolors, dominated by pale yellows and greens, that bring Juna’s nighttime sojourns to full life—in the final one, she dons aviator goggles and flies over a bustling city on the back of a cricket. Despite the elements of magical realism interwoven with the plot, Bahk never loses sight of the very real emotions that drive her pensive, curious, and openhearted heroine. Ages 5–9. (Jan.)
A beautifully illustrated children's picture book, Juna's Jar tells the story of Juna and her best friend, Hector, who love to go on adventures in the park, collecting things to put in Juna's empty kimchi jars. One day, Hector unexpectedly moves away, and with the help of her special kimchi jar, Juna searches for her friend all over the world, and finds new adventure and new friends in the most unexpected places. This debut picture book is a winner of publisher Lee & Low Books New Voices Award.
"Juna's Jar," written by Jane Bahk and illustrated by Felicia Hoshino, depicts a single disappointment big enough to be heartbreaking: Little Juna’s friend Hector moves away suddenly, and she is denied even a chance to say goodbye. And while the ending, with its suggestion of a new friend for Juna, may be predictable for adult readers, young children will probably find it pleasing. In Hoshino’s lyrical and delicately detailed watercolor illustrations, Juna is adorable, her facial expressions matching the honest emotion of the text. The role played by the book’s title object is compelling as well, and you might want to prepare for a first reading to a child by having a jar of similar size and shape on hand.
The New York Times - Linda Sue Park
Debut author Jane Bahk introduces a charming young heroine with an imagination that helps her deal with her best friend leaving the neighborhood. Felicia Hoshino's (A Place Where Sunflowers Grow ) soft watercolor illustrations depict a diverse, thriving city neighborhood with small vibrant shops, people and pets. Hoshino's playful approach makes clear what's real and what's in Juna's imagination. Discover: A charming young heroine's imagination helps her deal with her best friend leaving the neighborhood.
Shelf Awareness for Readers - Jennifer Brown
12/01/2014 PreS-Gr 2—Charming soft watercolor illustrations and a sweet story that tugs at the imagination provide a flight of fancy that youngsters will enjoy hearing again and again. Little Juna and her friend Hector share adventures in the park across the street from their apartment building in Koreatown. Interesting critters and other items go into Juna's empty kimchi jar to be studied, then released. When Hector moves away, Juna's older brother, Minho, observing her sadness, buys her a small fish, gives her a small bean plant grown at school, then helps her find twigs and leaves in the park to provide a habitat for a cricket. Each night, the kimchi jar takes Juna on a fabulous journey. The goldfish takes her on an undersea adventure, growing so large that it must be transferred to the family aquarium. The bean plant transports her to a tropical rainforest, then is moved to a large pot on the balcony; the cricket carries Juna over city buildings to the window of Hector's bedroom, where his stone-filled kimchi jar sits on a windowsill near his bed. Seeing Hector safe and happy allows Juna to move on and make a new friend at the park. Hoshino's delightful detail-filled paintings of Juna's nighttime adventures show smiling sea creatures, sloths, monkeys and crocodiles, and a city alive with activity, illuminated by vehicle headlights "that lit up the hill like a string of holiday lights." Use this title inpreschool storytimes or in the classroom to stimulate leaps of imagination.—Susan Scheps, formerly at Shaker Public Library, OH
2014-10-22 A seemingly ordinary kimchi jar is anything but in this gentle tale of old friends and new. Best friends Juna and Hector collect rocks and bugs in her family's empty kimchi jars. One day, Juna goes to Hector's apartment only to learn from his abuela that his parents came and took him to live with them far away. To cheer her up, Juna's brother buys her a fish to place in the empty kimchi jar. That night, she dreams of questing underwater for Hector, only to awaken to find her pet has, remarkably, grown too big for its home. She turns the now-empty jar into a terrarium with a small bean plant, and that night she imagines she is looking for Hector through a rain forest. This pattern is repeated again with a cricket, and then finally Juna is able to come to terms with Hector's absence and is emotionally ready to make another friend. The steady narrative repetition as Juna sleeps and seeks offers a reassuring pattern for children who might be missing their own Hectors. The logic (or magic) behind the jar's occupants' phenomenal growth is unclear, and Juna's brother never remarks on its impossibility; less-credulous readers will wonder about this. Meanwhile, the muted tones of Hoshino's watercolors soothe and, on occasion, amuse, as when readers witness the slightly smooshed lips of Juna enduring a hug she did not seek. While a little logically shaky, this fills a need for those children who find themselves adrift when their closest friends seemingly disappear. (Picture book. 4-7)