Korean Folktales for Little Readers · Book 1
The Tiger and the Dried Persimmon
A Korean Folktale · Retold by Bright Lee
The biggest tiger in Korea is afraid of... a dried persimmon?
On a cold, snowy night, a hungry tiger creeps up to a little straw-roofed house. Inside, a baby is crying. “Hush, or the fox will come!” The baby cries on. “Hush, or the bear will come!” Still crying. “Look, a TIGER!” Even louder!
Then the mother says one mysterious word, gotgam, and the crying stops. What terrible creature could be scarier than a tiger? The tiger runs to hide in the dark cowshed, just as a cow thief comes creeping in...
Funny, a little spooky, and full of lines to say together.
- Ages
- 4–8
- Format
- Paperback, 8.5 × 8.5 in, full color, 32 pages · Kindle edition
- ISBN-13
- 979-8160707860 (paperback)
- Published
- October 7, 2026
- Publisher
- Glowwin Books
From the Journal: What is gotgam, and why is a tiger afraid of it?
Look inside
At the back of the book
More than a story
- About This Story
Tigers in old Korea, and the sweet winter treat called gotgam. - Korean Words
Six first Korean words with easy pronunciation. - Tricky Words to Say
Help for grown-ups reading aloud, including parents still learning English. - Talk About It
Questions to share after reading, plus a space to draw your own gotgam monster.
Korean words in this book
| Korean | Spelled | Say it | Meaning |
|---|---|---|---|
| 호랑이 | horangi | HO-rahng-ee | tiger |
| 곶감 | gotgam | GOHT-gahm | dried persimmon |
| 아기 | agi | AH-gee | baby |
| 엄마 | eomma | UHM-mah | mom |
| 눈 | nun | NOON (rhymes with moon) | snow |
| 으앙 | eu-ang | UH-ahng | a baby’s cry (in English, “Waaah!”) |
