Friday, June 11, 2004

must... find... comic book

My 9-year-old tutoree in Apkujeong, Min-sung, is in a Lord of the Rings phase. He's got LOTR plastic swords, daggers, and even a bow and arrow. Two bows, in fact. He and I practiced shooting stuff in his room last week (the arrows are sucker-tipped).

Min-sung is looking forward to the movie version of The Hobbit, and I've been trying to find a very well-drawn graphic novel version of the story at the local Korean superbookstores. I saw it on the shelves of Youngpoong Bookstore last year, but ever since they renovated the downstairs, I can't find anything anymore. There's a section devoted specifically to LOTR and Harry Potter, but there are several sections devoted to various comic books and children's books. I checked all those sections-- nada.

The graphic novel is good because it's talky; it preserved a lot of the dialogue from the book, so it's not simply a reduction of the story to pretty pictures. I tried getting Min-sung to look at the actual novel, The Hobbit, but he made a face, and even though his English is better than most of my Level 1 SWU students', he's still a 9-year-old who'd rather be playing hockey (heard that, Air Marshal? HE LIKES HOCKEY!).

I'll have to try Kyobo Bookstore next.

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