Thank you NetGalley and NorthSouth Books for this e ARC of " The Three-Year Tumble" by Dayeon Auh, coming out March 25, 2025!

I'm not familiar with the Korean Folktake that this is based on but I really enjoyed this story. The illustrations are great and the colors are beautiful. This would be a great book to add to a classroom library!

The art is really cute. It is a retelling of an old Korean folktale and I am a sucker for folktales. This was fun to read and I think the art really added to the story.

4 stars

Love the positive spin on this. “A Korean folktale about having the right mindset” is the perfect summary of this book. How quick we are to assume the worst and make ourselves sick with worry instead of embracing a more optimistic mindset.

I received an advance review copy for free from the publisher via Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Very brief folktale about a supposedly cursed mountain the the clever little girl who teaches people to think of the curse as a blessing in disguise. The story is very short, almost too short for a story really, as it reads more like a paragraph than an story. The artwork is pretty basic as well. That being said, it would be a useful addition for any collection of international or multicultural picture books or folk tales.

Based on a traditional Korean folktale. Vibrant, animated art and a story that celebrates the power of the mind—both its effect on our health, as well as thinking outside the box when it comes to problem solving.

A great message with a happily-ever-after ending.

A classic Korean folktale made for children, this book was a gem. My 4 and 6yo loved this book. The illustrations are beautiful. Every page could be a framed piece of art.

A beautifully illustrated retelling of a Korean folktale. Children will enjoy the vivid colors. The moral of the story, to have a positive outlook, is a valuable lesson. Thank you NorthSouth Books for the ARC and opportunity to provide an honest review.

Thank you NorthSouth Books and NetGalley for the advanced electronic review copy of this great book. This Korean fable with a wonderful message about the importance of a positive outlook and colourful illustrations has a great appeal to the younger readers due to the crayon drawn, relatable illustrations. Looking forward to using it with my students and having discussions about the different points of view and the importance of having a positive outlook.

So first, I loved the pictures in this adorable book. This is based on a Korean folk tale, and the setting is gorgeous. A grandpa thinks he's cursed because he falls down a mountain, because the curse says he only has 3 years left to live. After 3 years, he's feeling ill and the doctor can't find anything wrong, but his clever granddaughter figures out a hilarious way to break the curse. I thought it was brilliant.
Thanks so much to NetGalley for letting me read this

The Three-Year Tumble is a short but powerful picture book by Dayeon Auh. As a translated work from German, some of the language felt a bit stiff, but the illustrations added life to the story with vibrant colors and texture. The story itself begins quite bleak, with the main character, Grandfather, thinking he is dying, but the arrival of his granddaughter brings the true meaning behind this Korean folktale.
Thanks to NorthSouth books and Netgalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I loved this book! A very clever story that I think readers will love. I had never heard this folktale before so I'm glad it's getting a new life in this book. I really enjoyed the art style as well. I would've loved even MORE story, even just a few extra pages. Still a very good book!

A very simple book about a grandfather that falls down a mountain and how a shift in mindset changes negative thinking to positive.

I love getting to read folktales from other countries, it's so cool to get to experience them. The illustrations here esp stood out to me!

The Three Year Tumble is a cute children’s picture book based on a Korean folktale. The story follows a grandfather whose superstitious nature overtakes his better judgement, so much so that he becomes ill in the process. But it is his granddaughter that becomes the voice of reason and planting a positive “seed” so that the grandfather overcomes his negative mindset, thereby healing him.

Filled with beautiful illustrations, The Three Year Tumble is a great book for early readers. The book provides excellent talking points about having a positive mental attitude and that superstitions are just that — unfounded beliefs or practices.

Although I enjoyed that book, I couldn’t help but feel that something got lost in the translation of it. The story didn’t flow as smoothly as I would have liked and at times felt “choppy.” Nevertheless, The Three Year Tumble was still an entertaining read. Four stars.

I was invited to read a DRC from NorthSouth Books through NetGalley. This review is completely my own and reflects my honest thoughts and opinions.

This book was given to me through Netgalley for my honest review. I want to thank Netgalley, the Author, and the Publisher for the opportunity to review this book.

I love this little story. This is based on a traditional Korean folktale. The grandfather lives near a mountain and he has to climb it to get to town. However, there is a bad omen, if you will, that goes with this mountain. If you fall down it you only have three years left to live. No one knows where this omen started but everyone believed it. His granddaughter who comes into the story after three years tells her grandfather a different tale. He gets up and he goes back to the mountain. This new tale gives a new perspective on this mountain. I enjoyed it. And the bright colors of the pictures are amazing as well.

The Three-Year Tumble is a Korea tale about living life to the fullest and looking at life from different perspectives. There is also the component that younger generations can teach old generations something new. Beautiful illustrations bring this tale to life for the reader.

I received an electronic ARC from NorthSouth Books Inc. through NetGalley.
Auh based this book on a Korean folktale. Readers learn about a mountain rumored to be cursed. Anyone who fell while climbing it would only live another three years. We see grandfather approach the Misfortune Mountain to go to the market. Sadly, he is startled and falls. He grieves and when the end of three years approaches, he becomes ill. His granddaughter offers a different view on the "live for three years" philosophy and he realizes he can extend his life with many falls. I appreciate the way the author offers readers the chance to decide how to view this for themselves. The artwork captures the emotions and provides a clear setting for readers. As a read aloud, this will lead to dialogue on changing a mindset or view point to see life in different ways.

The Three-Year Tumble is a beautiful and always relevant story about a child overcoming an elder's fears. The illustrations are absolutely gorgeous and it's just such a wonderful translation of the original folk tale!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read the free ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Cute and meaningful book that definitely breathes new and vigorous life into a classic Korean folktale. This also makes this book very unique, because it's (unfortunately) not often that you see a kids' book that is quite like this one. Additionally, the art style used for this book is something different because it appears to be exclusively drawn in crayon. This helps the book appeal even more to young readers, because it's something that they can recognize and relate to. Lastly, this book has a great message: to think outside the box. The characters in this book are stellar examples of this, and it is awesome for little ones to see this and draw inspiration from it.
Bravo!

Thank you to NorthSouth Books and NetGalley for the e-ARC to read and review. I love that this is a re-telling of a Korean folktale, and it's a great look at how to reframe negatives as positives (without toxic positivity - just creatively looking at what you have to work with and making choices from there. While I liked the overall colors and styles of the book, I wasn't as much of a fan of the actual character illustrations.