Korean Mid-Autumn Festival Chuseok Books for Kids
Chuseok 추석, also known as the Korean Mid-Autumn Moon Festival, is celebrated each year during September or October near the Autumn Equinox. Get ready to enjoy the Mid-Autumn Festival with books in English and Korean. I’m sharing the best Korean Chuseok books for kids and students.
For years, I’ve been searching for great children’s books about Chuseok. These days, Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival books are easily accessible. But I hope this article can help parents and teachers include Korean Chuseok traditions in their conversations, too.
Related: Where to Buy Korean Books for Kids in the United States
Best Korean Mid-Autumn Festival Books in English
These books about the Korean Mid-Autumn Festival are wonderful for home, preschool, and elementary school classrooms.
Best children’s book about Korean Chuseok and other festivals
Korean Celebrations: Festivals, Holidays, and Traditions
In this beautifully illustrated book, Korean American author Tina Cho gives a kid-friendly overview of Chuseok and special traditions for Mid-Autumn Festival. Other holidays, like Korean Lunar New Year, are also explained with interesting details.
Best picture book about Korean Chuseok for kids
Talented author-illustrator Uk-Bae Lee shows how Chuseok is celebrated in a Korean family. A simple sentence on each page makes room for the detailed illustrations to reveal the story of a little girl, Sori, who journeys from city to countryside to visits her grandparents to celebrate the special harvest moon.
Keep an eye out for this hard-to-find book at the library or second-hand copies on Amazon.
Best chapter book about Korean Chuseok for kids
Mindy Kim and the Mid-Autumn Festival
Lyla Lee’s popular series features a Korean American girl, Mindy, who learns how to celebrate her heritage with her dad, stepmom, and friends.
Compared to other stories in the series, this one is a little heavier. Mindy attends her grandfather’s funeral in Korea while also celebrating Korean Chuseok traditions. Since Mindy’s stepmother is Chinese American, Mid-Autumn Festival traditions are featured as well.
Amidst the grief, the family is determined to make the holiday special. For Mindy Kim, this is a time of growth and connection.
Best creative folktale about Korean Chuseok
Originally written in Korean, this creative story was inspired by the classic Moon Rabbit 달토끼 (daltokki) folktale and translated into English.
As the legend goes, the moon starts to melt during one extremely warm night. An anthropomorphic “Granny” notices and collects each drop, turning them into refreshing moon popsicles for everyone to enjoy. There’s just one problem: the Moon Rabbits have lost their moon home, but Granny uses her wisdom to solve the dilemma.
Recommended: 10 Marvelous Moon Phase Crafts and Activities
Best Chuseok Mid-Autumn Festival Books in Korean
If you’re raising multilingual children, read these books in Korean to encourage a deeper connection with the culture.
Best children’s book about Korean songpyeon
추석 전날 달밤에
On the night before Chuseok, a Korean family begins to prepare for the harvest moon festival. As the full moon rises, they make delicious songpyeon 송편 together. Gorgeous illustrations of the family and pastel rice cakes shaped like mini crescent moons grace each page of this heartwarming story.
If you aren’t able to access the Korean book, you can watch the lovely narration on YouTube.
Best picture book about Korean Chuseok for kids
솔이의 추석 이야기
It’s always wonderful to read books in an author’s native language! This is the Korean edition of Sori’s Harvest Moon recommended above. Several Korean narrations are also available on YouTube, and our favorite is the lightly animated version linked in the button.
Best creative folktale about Korean Chuseok
달 샤베트
달 샤베트 is the original Korean edition of the Moon Pops story recommended above. Enjoy the gorgeous mixed-media artwork, creative story, and lovely Korean narration on Youtube.
Try this: Fun Ways to Teach Kids Korean with Hangul Letter Toys
What are your favorite Korean Mid-Autumn Festival books?
Please share your Chuseok book recommendations below. We’d love to learn from your experience! And we hope that authors will be able to publish new Korean Mid-Autumn Festival books in the future!
More ways to celebrate Korean Chuseok with kids
