I really loved the book "Goyangi Means Cat," by Christine McDonnell. This is the first piece of literature that I have read that has to do with adoption, especially international adoption. What I loved most about this book is the integration of the Korean language with the text. Some pages gave phonetic spellings and what they would spell. For example, po-po is translated to kiss, and gom is teddy bear. On other pages, the words are integrated in the text. On one page the author wrote, "She called the woman Omah and the man Apah." I like that not all the words were translated but allowed the reader infer their meaning. Another part of this book that I liked was following the girls journey to acclimating to her new home. She starts not being open, to enjoying her time, to losing her support system (the cat), to feeling at home. It is a beautiful story that is relatable to anyone who has moved to a new home, been through adoption, or has had to learn a new way of communicating. The main idea of this book is to inform readers about what a can go through after the adoption process. ( )

Shot story illustrating some of the struggles of immigration and adjusting to new home. Deal with little girl who was adopted and some of the things she deals with. Reading books like this during read aloud time may help the students better understand different feelings their classmates may be having.

This book depicts a Korean girl named Soo Min adapting to her new life and family. They slowly teach her a few words in English, and they have a pet cat. The cat, who Soo Min calls goyangi, is her favorite part of her new life.
One day, goyangi goes missing, and the family goes out around town to look for it. Eventually, after they thought it was gone forever, goyangi comes back home, and all is well.

Just a nice cute story of a little girl and her cat. ( )

Adopted girl from Korea finds comfort and connection with the household cat. ( )

The illustrations are gorgeous. ( )