The Rabbit and the Dragon King — Robert D. San Souci

The Dragon King rules the ocean deep and all its creatures. He is a great king--but an even greater hypochondriac. Though his physician can find neither cause nor cure for his latest ailment, the king believes he is not long for this world. After consulting with his court magician, the king is convinced that eating the heart of a rabbit will cure what ails him. Turtle volunteers to swim ashore and tricks a rabbit into visiting the undersea palace. When the rabbit comes face to face with the Dragon King and learns her fate, she shows that she has a few tricks of her own. Daniel San Souci's splendid retelling finds new riches in an ancient tale that was recorded as early as A.D. 642 during Korea's Shila Dynasty. Eujin Kim Neilan's breathtaking paintings depict a magical, underwater world, where dragons, and turtles, and rabbits mingle on the ocean floor. From the author and illustrator of In the Moonlight Mist comes a stunning new version of one of Korea's best-loved folk-tales.