My Name Is Yoon
My Name Is Yoon by Helen Recorvits takes about 8 minutes to read aloud (890 words, about 1 sentence a page), and it lands best with children aged 4-6.
Measured read-aloud timeabout 8 minutes
- Words
- 890
- Sentences a page
- 1
- Re-read tolerance
- 3/5holds up
- Vocabulary
- 3/5a few new words
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The useful verdict
Why My Name Is Yoon works
Yoon has just arrived from Korea and refuses to write her name in English letters, so she writes CAT, then BIRD, then CUPCAKE - each one a thing she would rather be than a girl at this school. She writes YOON only when school has stopped frightening her, and the book never once hurries her.
Before you buy it
Eight minutes and very still; it lands better at five than at three.
Themes: names, Korean families, moving countries, school, writing.
Same shape, new story
Books like My Name Is Yoon
Matched by length, refrain, sentence density, and listener—not just subject.
Straight answers
Questions parents ask about My Name Is Yoon
- How long does it take to read My Name Is Yoon aloud?
- About 8 minutes at an unhurried pace, from a word count of 890. Reading it fast shaves perhaps a third off; stopping for questions on every page can double it.
- What age is My Name Is Yoon actually for?
- Ages 4-6 in our testing, which is narrower than the publisher's range. With 1 sentence a page and vocabulary at 3 out of 5, it asks for that much attention span and no more.
- Does My Name Is Yoon survive being read on repeat?
- Yes, reasonably. It stays bearable through the repeat-request phase without becoming a favourite forever.
- Is My Name Is Yoon a good book for a child who will not sit still?
- It helps that it has a refrain a child can join in with. Those three features are what keep a wriggling toddler listening, far more than the subject matter does.