Welcome to the Glam and Glitz Giveaway Hop! Thanks to Amazon Crossing Kids, one of you can win a copy of the touching children’s book, Magic Candies by Heena Baek.
A quirky, funny, and heartfelt story about finding your voice from award-winning Korean author and illustrator Heena Baek.
Hosted by MamaTheFox
Magic Candies
I received this book free; however, all opinions are my own. This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive compensation at no cost to you.
Magic Candies
by Heena Baek; translated by Sophie Bowman
Ages 4-8
Publisher: Amazon Crossing Kids (September 1, 2021)
Publication date: September 1, 2021
Print length: 48 pages
Print list price: $17.99
Tong Tong could never have imagined what everyone around him was thinking. But when he gets hold of some magic candies, suddenly there are voices everywhere. He can hear how his couch feels, what upsets his dog, that his demanding dad loves him. He even gets to catch up with his dead grandmother. It turns out, these voices in Tong Tong’s life have A LOT to say! Is Tong Tong ready to hear it?
At turns funny, weird, and heartfelt, this imaginative picture book from award-winning Korean author Heena Baek will take readers along on Tong Tong’s journey as he goes from lonely to brave.
Praise for Magic Candies
★“Show-stopping spreads by Baek, similar to art by Red Nose Studio, feature molded, emotive figures in meticulously constructed scenery with miniature furniture, photographed under dramatic lighting—an effect startlingly close to animation. It’s a fully realized world that considers discerning meaning and making friends, while offering artwork that lingers in the memory.” —Publishers Weekly (starred)
“The enhanced artwork establishes depth and perspective…depictions of facial expressions are skillful and endearing, and the interplay between text and illustrations will cause readers to linger and ponder. An enigmatic, quirky representation of an active imagination in search of understanding and companionship.” —Kirkus Reviews
“Deeply touching, funny, and incredibly odd, this is the kind of picture book that gets you excited about picture books all over again…Magic Candies is so remarkable…a book that is both about giving voice to the voiceless and finding your own.” —Betsy Bird, School Library Journal
My review of Magic Candies
Magic Candies is a brilliant, exceptional children’s book. The artwork brings the story to life in a way that no ordinary artwork could. Baek photographs molded figures and furniture as her medium of illustration. Though the story is simple, it is deeply touching.
Tong Tong’s experience with magic candies gives him the ability to hear things he’d never heard before including the couch, his dog, and his deceased grandmother. The things that he hears gives him an awareness like never before.
Because I don’t want to spoil this incredible story, I can’t expound upon the part of this book that brought tears to my eyes and left an ache in my heart. Let me tell you, parents, that it’s sure to hit you in the same way. You’d better read it before you share it with your kids, so you don’t start crying right then! (I still can’t read Love You Forever aloud!) Magic Candies is truly a magical book, and I highly recommend it!
About Heena Baek
Heena Baek is an acclaimed picture book author and illustrator from South Korea. She won the 2020 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a huge international award honoring the body of work of children’s book creators. She studied educational technology at Ewha Womans University and animation at the California Institute of the Arts. Utilizing her diverse animation production experience, Heena creates powerful and interesting picture books, often sculpting characters and building sets. She is the author and illustrator of a number of picture books, many of which have been translated and have received awards from South Korea and internationally.
Follow her on Twitter @heenastory
On Instagram: @baekheena
About Sophie Bowman
Sophie Bowman is a PhD student at the University of Toronto, studying Korean literature. She was awarded the ICF Literature Translation Fellowship at Ewha Womans University. In 2015, she won the Korea Times Modern Korean Literature Translation Award grand prize for poetry with her translations of Jin Eun-young and co-translated Kim Bo-Young’s I’m Waiting for You and Other Stories. Follow her on Twitter @SophieOrbital.
Enter the giveaway
One lucky winner will receive a copy of Magic Candies, courtesy of Amazon Crossing Kids (U.S. and Canada addresses).
MamatheFox and all participating blogs are not held responsible for sponsors who fail to fulfill their prize obligations.
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