The House Before Falling into the Sea
By Ann Suyk Wang
Illustrator Hanna Cha
Del Books, 2024.
This book enables children to grow in understanding some universal truths. Ann Wang creates a compelling tale of refugees embraced by a generous and kind family. It is a powerful story of her family’s experience in war, and this picture book is able to look at a country in a specific time that impacted so many people.
A child and her family take in refugees during the Korean War in this book about courage and shows what it really means to care for your neighbors. The story will open your mind and heart to a world where people cared for others despite all of the hardships. Our country is largely shaped by immigration stories and this book reflects Korean culture. By teaching empathy and hope this book also covers the interdependence and hospitality, and expressions of loss and grief, especially in ways that kids can understand.
Every day, more and more people fleeing war in the north show up at Kyung Tak and her family’s house on the southeastern shore of Korea. With nowhere else to go, the Taks’ home is these migrants’ last chance of refuge “before falling into the sea,” and the household quickly becomes crowded, hot, and noisy. Then war sirens cry out over Kyung’s city too, and her family and their guests take shelter underground.
When the sirens stop, Kyung is upset—she wishes everything could go back to the way it was before: before the sirens, before strangers started coming into their home. But after an important talk with her parents, her new friend Sunhee, and Sunhee’s father, Kyung realizes something important: We’re stronger when we have each other, and the kindness we show one another in the darkest of times is a gift we’ll never regret.
The watercolor illustrations are soothing and compassionate. This book is a Jane Addams Children’s Book Award Finalist. The back of the book has a glossary and the book ends with several questions. “How do you define a neighbor? Who are your neighbors? What have you learned from a friend? What have you taught a friend? How can you show kindness to others? Ann Wang’s family story started when she was seven in 1950 and luckily her family never had to move their residence.
Submitted by Karen Kosko
