Description What would happen if letters disappeared, along with all the things whose names contain them? In a world without the letter ㄱ, you'd never see a magnificent giraffe stretching its long neck, or a bear who loves honey, at the zoo. What about a world without ㄴ? No white snow would fall, no snowmen could be built, and no exciting snowball fights could be had. What might vanish in a world without ㄷ, or without ㄹ? If all these fun and exciting things disappeared, the world would be a truly boring, dull place. As children imagine a world where letters vanish, they come to realize just how precious letters really are. 1. Sparking interest in letters and discovering the feel of each consonant ▶ The many scenarios that unfold as letters disappear stir children's curiosity, drawing them into the world of letters and naturally helping them sense the unique feel of each consonant. When your child begins to show interest in letters, spark that curiosity with fun wordplay. Teaching Hangul by simply drilling 'ㄱ, ㄴ, ㄷ, ㄹ' or forcing a child to memorize letters one by one can quickly lead to boredom and even kill their interest in letters altogether — and it can be stressful for both child and parent. "If Letters Disappeared" sparks children's curiosity through the delightful premise that when a Hangul consonant vanishes, so do all the things whose names contain it. While imagining what might happen, children slip not into a lesson, but into a joyful world of play. Read aloud again and again, like a picture book should be, and before long your child will start tilting their head, noticing the repeating rhythm and realizing that each word corresponds to a particular consonant. They naturally absorb the feel of each consonant by ear, and learn to recognize its shape by eye — and in this way, they learn Hangul. 2. Chatting and playing word games with mom builds emotional security ▶ Through back-and-forth chatter with mom, children grow not only in emotional security and confidence, but also in their Hangul skills. What brings young children joy differs by age. Five-year-olds, who are typically at the age of budding interest in Hangul, feel joy especially when spending long stretches of time with parents or playing with friends. "If Letters Disappeared" is a book that parent and child can read together as a wordplay game. The child calls out, "What if ㄱ disappeared?" Mom tilts her head and answers, "Then we couldn't see gorillas anymore. Good news for the ants, though — anteaters would be gone too... oh wait, but ants would disappear too!" Next, mom calls out, "What if ㄴ disappeared?" and the child answers, "Then snow wouldn't fall, and we couldn't make snowmen!" Through this kind of playful back-and-forth, mom gets to know her adorable child even better, and the child feels real joy in this shared time with mom. What if mom asked, "What else might disappear, besides what's in the book?" Children would stretch their imaginations beyond the book's examples, thinking up all sorts of things that contain that consonant — and their Hangul skills would grow by leaps and bounds. 3. Searching for hidden pictures builds imagination ▶ By carefully studying the playful, imaginative illustrations, children build both imagination and observation skills. In the ㄱ world, you'll find 'gorilla, giraffe, peacock, ant'; in the ㄴ world, 'snow, snowball fight, me, you, heater'; in the ㅅ world, 'hide-and-seek, finger, deer antlers, calf's tail, bird's beak'; in the ㅈ world, 'earth, earthquake, war' — words containing each consonant are hidden throughout the illustrations. By carefully examining the pictures for each consonant from ㄱ to ㅎ, children discover that the words in the text are hidden in the pictures, and naturally begin playing a game of finding images linked to each consonant. Even more delightfully, the illustrations are packed with additional hidden pictures containing each consonant that aren't mentioned in the text at all — making the search for hidden pictures endlessly fun.