Sarang Saves the School, written by Korena Di Roma Howley and illustrated by Joowon Oh. Candlewick Press, Penguin Random House. 2025. $24.99 ages 4 and up

 

"The school needed just a few more students, 
Appa had said, though the building was so 
big. It could likely fit everyone in the village - 
moms and dads, aunties and uncles, grandmas and ... 

Sarang stopped short. 

Then she took off. She pedaled faster and faster, 
an idea picking up speed as quickly as her 
bicycle."

As happens in numerous small villages around the world, people are leaving for many different reasons. Sarang lives in a fishing village in South Korea, where there is great concern that the village will soon lose its school because of a dwindling number of students. 

Desks are empty and students are few. On the one hand, that offers some benefits. Questions can be asked and answered, the cafeteria line is short, and food choice is awesome. Still, Sarang is hearing, on the playground and at home, that their school may have to close. People are forced to move to the city to find jobs to support their families. 

Her parents explain that too many people are leaving. They only need a few more students, but there are none left. They will not be able to stay if there is no school for Sarang. In talking with her grandmother, Sarang learns that she will not move with them. Sarang does not want to leave Halmeoni behind. She even wonders if not going to school is an option; her grandmother explains that she cannot read or write because she had to stay home and care for her siblings. 

Sarang tries to imagine what life will be like away from all she has ever known. While riding her bike to visit the places she loves, she suddenly has an idea she wants to share. Her plan for the school soon spreads from one family to another. Keeping it a secret to the very end, she finally explains something very important to her grandmother. It's a brilliant solution to the problem of too few students. Now, the school can remain open, thanks to Sarang's grand idea. 

An author's note recalls an article in the New York Times in 2019 that discussed South Korean grandmothers attending school, something they had missed in their youth. This inspired her story.