A Part of the Ribbon: A Time Travel Adventure Through the History of Korea - Softcover

Hunter, Ruth S.; Fritsch, Debra M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1880336111 ISBN 13: 9781880336113

Publisher: Turtle Pr, 2004

Synopsis

Thirteen-year-old Jeffrey, his six-year-old sister, and their taekwondo instructor embark on an adventure through Korea's history, tracing the development of taekwondo

About this title

About the Author

Ruth Hunter currently works in the public relations field and has worked as a junior and senior high school history teacher. She has a black belt in taekwondo and is the mother of three young martial artists. A prolific writer, she has authored three books for Turtle Press, specializing in material for children and their parents.

Debra Fritsch is a free lance writer, martial arts instructor and black belt in taekwondo. She is co-author of A Part of the Ribbon and Parents' Guide to Martial Arts.

Reviews

Grade 4-6. A class in taekwondo ends with 13-year-old Jeffrey and his 6-year-old sister embarking with their instructor, or Sabumnim, on a time-travel adventure. For children interested in the martial arts, this could be an exciting proposition. However, A Part of the Ribbon does not live up to the promise. With no preparation for the time travel other than a few questions, a swirling mist, and Sabumnim's cryptic, "Uh one, and uh two, and uh three," the children step on a blue ribbon that ripples by and find themselves in the mountains of Korea about 2000 years ago. They travel through various periods of the country's history, through stages of invasion and in-fighting, finding themselves in the midst of many conflicts that are never fully explained. When the going gets rough, the ribbon always appears to rescue them. Characterization is minimal and the dialogue is trite and riddled with cliches. The plot is only a thinly disguised vehicle for showing the development of taekwondo moves through a historical perspective, but even this is foiled by poor pacing and unclear descriptions of the various periods and their development. Most readers interested in this topic are looking for solid nonfiction or fiction titles that show children dealing with the moves in real life, such as Pat Mauser's Bundle of Sticks (Aladdin, 1987) or Brian Pinkney's JoJo's Flying Side Kick (S & S, 1995).?Connie C. Rockman, formerly at Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: Turtle Pr
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1880336111
• ISBN 13: 9781880336113
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 188