Book to Share Stories Rarely Told

Some D.C. Everest High School students are in the process of publishing another history book. They create books every year through the Oral History Project, but the latest one is making sure Hmong history won’t get lost in translation.

"It's different from the other books,” said D.C. Everest junior Kimberly Yang. “This year we're writing about folktales, drawing stories and having both English and Hmong translations."

The folktales are stories that have been passed down from generation to generation.

"I've seen that a lot of the Hmong culture has been disappearing slowly and I thought it was important to have both the Hmong and the English translation because then not only can we read it in English, but we can also read it in Hmong and look back and be like, ok, this is what we used to know,” Yang said.

The book will feature four folktales parents can read to their children and that kids can learn from, like the story of the tiger and the frog. When the tiger threatens to eat the frog, the frog proposes the two race and the frog lives if he wins. The amphibian comes up with a plan and emerges from the race victorious.

"The moral of the story is...it's not always about being the strongest one, it's about how you approach the problem,” said D.C. Everest Senior Belinda Yang.

The book will be published at the end of the summer and be available for purchase during Wausau’s Hmong New Year Celebration in December.

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