SIBF 2025 18-22 June, 2025 l COEX Halls A & B1
Overseas Book Fairs
Overseas Book Fairs
Bologna Children’s Book Fair 2020
| 『Your Next Book』 | Due to the cancellation of Bologna Children’s Book Fair caused by COVID-19, we sent an brochure which introduces 50 Korean publications recommended by Korean critics and editors. Here are some contens of Children & Young Adult books introduced in 'Your Next Book'. More details can be found in the attached file in 'Media' board. |
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Our Annyeong
Author: Park Joon / Illustrator: Kim Han-na
Danbi, the poet’s father’s dog, is the main character of this picture poetry book. Reading the poem “Danbi” from We Could See the Rainy Season Together, the poet’s second poetry collection, further provides rich context for this work. Each of the six pups from Danbi’s litter was sent away to different homes. Danbi, who had not shown any signs of agitation at first, began searching and running throughout the house from the day the last pup left. The book portrays the friendship that develops between grieving Danbi and a bird that flies in one day.
“Annyeong ” in an encounter can inspire joy, “annyeong” in a farewell can cast a gloom, “annyeong” in a beginning can spell out the word “life,” and “annyeong” in the end can bring enlightenment of death. In these ways, this book explores the meanings of “annyeong.” “When we yearn for those who are no longer with us, our eyes look out to the distance. When we miss our loved ones, our hearts are near.” These words from the poet show us that when we utter “annyeong,” the energy source that envelops our core both on the inside and out is yearning. “We can always draw what we have seen once with our eyes. The drawing of that image again and again and again is yearning.” Such words tell us the nature of yearning, of a heart that draws again and again out of desperation in missing someone.
Lane 5
Author: Eun So-hole / Illustrator: Noh In-kyung
Lane 5 is a story about young swimmers. That in itself gets readers curious. What will happen in the swimming pool? What kind of experiences do these aquatic children go through? What’s on their minds? From the first page, we follow the smell of the water to the swimming pool. There, we follow the children’s movements and tread through the water, where we finally encounter the coming of age story of earnest, grounded children. These children, who choose their own path and give everything they have to it, are radiant; the scenes of friendship, love, excitement and fluttering hearts against the green and blue hues of summer are clear, cool and refreshing.
Iparapa Yamooyamoo
Yi Gee-eun
The setting of the picture book is a village surrounded by small green hills. The overall atmosphere of the book resembles a happy fairy tale. White and soft “Marshmellong” and dreamy and clumsy “Fursungsungi” are extremely cute. White and black, light and heavy, sleek and supple ... these two characters are contrasted in many ways including visual, auditory and tactile aspects. They keep grabbing readers’ attention inside the book.
Granny Diver
Author: Oh Mi-kyung / Illustrator: Lee Myung-ae
Granny Diver is a beautiful and warm story told by a Haenyeo granny who sincerely lives as one with nature. As I watch the Haenyeo dive beyond the blue waves, I feel a deep sense of respect at the thought that our daily lives also come together day by day to become history to eventually create a myth.
Dream of Becoming Water
Author : Lucid Fall / Illustrator : Lee Su-zy
This picture book breathes new life into the beautiful song “Dream of Becoming Water,” which many people have treasured in their hearts for a long time. “Dream of Becoming Water” is the notable song with beautiful poetry-like lyrics from Lucid Fall who is often regarded as a singing poet. Its lyrics that embody the serenity and freedom found in nature are further deepened by Lee Su-zy’s illustrations. Her detailed and intense expressions in watercolor painting show the powerful but peaceful, strong but flexible images of water.
What's Good is Good
Author : Kim Yang-mi / Illustrator : Kim Hyo-eun
What’s good? In good food abide time, people, memories and longing. The picture book What’s Good is Good embodies the process of a young girl having good food and gradually realizing the multi-layered meanings of “good”.
It starts with observation. What do the cat, the cactus and the baby eat? What kind of food do Mom and Dad like? The story unfolds through food, somehow linking one to another, one after the other.
Plasterer
Lee Myung-hwan
The story unfolds from the perspective of a child. The father toils daily for his family, and the mother cares for the home and the children silently by his side. The children miss their father, and their eyes search throughout the home for comforting traces of him.
The father leaves home at dawn when the children are sleeping. He installs tiles at bath houses, pools and subway stations. People call him a plasterer, but to the children, he is an artist. As he adds on each tile, a brilliant new picture takes on form.
After a month-long job assignment, he’d return with croakers for them. When he leaves for the next one, he’d leave home quietly with the children sleeping. While the father smears plaster onto the walls and puts the tiles up, the children draw pictures similar to the ones created by the tiles. Although the father is not there with them, his work can be seen in places where the family spends time.
“Dad is not with us now, but his work is always with us. When we look around, it’s everywhere. On the walls and on the floor.” And because of that, the children can hold their heads up high.
“I have never seen Dad leave the house. I only hear the clinking sound of my mother doing the dishes.”
The father anchors the family with his quiet diligence, and the mother silently fills any gaps in his absence. With the father and mother each holding their ground, the children, firmly rooted in family, can grow up with visions of their future in the world.
So Much Snow
Park Hyun-min
From beginning to end, the pages of this book seem spread out in white space, apparently entirely blank. However, by imagining snow in place of the white space, you may find yourself facing “so much snow” from page to page. With such imagination, new images that go beyond the confinement of the book could be made possible.In print, there is no white ink. Therefore, in this book, the white blank space becomes the snow or the snowman. The size of the snowman is whatever the reader imagines it to be. It could be just one’s height or as high as a tree. Perhaps it’s gigantic — so huge that it reaches the sky.The author, with minimum background illustration, allows the reader to appreciate the perspective and scale within the pages. Aside from the white that forms the background, only two colors, which are blue and yellow, are used to depict the main character and the movements. Through this illustrated book, which portrays the snow-covered world as a huge blank space, the author grants the readers the joy of filling the pages with one’s own imagination.
The No-Lose Toy Egg Vending Machine
Author: Kwak Yu-jin / Illustrator: Cha Sang-mi
The No-Lose Toy Egg Vending Machine is a fantasy tale for children that recounts the magical story that takes place through the medium of a capsule toy-vending machine. Placed in front of a neighborhood stationery store, it always lets you win and never draws a blank. In straightforward yet heart-rendering prose, the book tells the story of a child adrift in feelings of sadness and loss, who slowly rebuilds her relations with others and returns to her daily life, thanks to the no-lose vending machine. The unique setting of a toy egg vending machine, where you insert a coin and turn a dial, that always lets you get something, arouses the reader’s curiosity and encourages them to dive into the story.
Now as We Travel
Author : Kim U-ju / Illustrator : Shin Eun-jung
Seven stories realistically portray children of today, with places such as a classroom, taxicab, airport and a supermarket as the stage. In this debut collection of children’s short stories, Author Kim U-ju turns her attention on vulnerable and marginalized children who exist in every corner of the world. Pinpointing the struggles of underprivileged children, she addresses the readers with ways of flipping reality unpredictably. Shin Eun-jung brings much depth to her illustrations with detailed lines and warm coloring, tailoring each piece to the tone of the story and breathing life into the characters by capturing their raw emotions of the moment.
