Long ago in Korea, a young boy named Sun-sin dreamed of traveling around the world with his pet turtle, Gobugi. But Sun-sin was poor, so his dream seemed impossible. Then the king announced a contest to design a new battleship to defend the land. The winner would sail the ocean with the royal navy!

Determined to win, Sun-sin tried to build a model battleship. Each attempt failed miserably against the powerful sea, and like his models, Sun-sin's dream sank to the bottom. Then Sun-sin noticed how Gobugi was small but mighty, slow but steady, and impossible to sink. Suddenly, Sun-sin had a great idea. 

Loosely based on the true story of Admiral Yi Sun-sin and his Turtle Ship, this delightful tale by author Helena Ku Rhee and illustrator Colleen Kong-Savage introduces readers to a fascinating episode in Korean history and naval engineering.

From the dust jacket