Peach Heaven is a retelling of author and illustrator Yangsook Choi's childhood experience with peaches in Korea. She dreams of a peach orchard where she can play and eat as many of the delicious fruits as she wishes. After weeks of heavy downpours, it begins to hail-and then rain peaches! Choi is extremely excited, but realizes that all of these peaches belong to the farmers who have lost their harvest. Choi gathers all her friends and surprises the farmers by hanging peaches back onto their trees with pieces of yarn. This book was my midterm analysis of a picture book, and I am thankful I got to read it.

"Using watercolor washes in hues of yellow, blue-gray, brown and green, Choi (Nim and the War Effort) illustrates a childhood memory, the day in 1976 when the sky rained peaches in her hometown of Puchon, South Korea. During endless rainy days that August, young Yangsook avoids her homework by staring at what she calls 'a picture of heaven,' a golden peach orchard filled with children. One afternoon, the streets flood, and objects larger than hailstones pour down. A full-bleed spread shows the heroine wading in knee-high water while her grandmother and brother watch from the porch; in a subsequent spread, Yangshook bites into a succulent peach, her overturned umbrella filled with the fruit while more float by. 'We... feasted on peaches until we could eat no more. I forgot about the rain. I was in peach heaven.' That night, however, Yangshook could not sleep, thinking about the farmers who had lost their crops, and she and the other children find a way to aid the distressed farmers. Architectural details such as gray roof shingles, doors made of vertical wooden slats opening to minimally furnished rooms, and cultural details (children and parents wear contemporary clothes, while Grandma wears a traditional robe) capture the ambience of a small Korean town. Choi's vivid recollection of one extraordinary day takes on the timeless feel of a classic tale. Ages 4-8. " Publishers Weekly (Copyright Reed Business Information, Inc.) ( )