tag Children
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I’m Growing Up
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A picture book that awakens readers to the meaning of time and growth
Jointly created by BolognaRagazzi Award recipients Kim Heekyoung and Yum Hyewon I’m Growing up is a heartwarming picture book where youngsters find and remind readers of the significance of time and growth amidst insignificant moments undergone each day. This volume has been completed with text by Kim Heekyoung, who received the BolognaRagazzi Award (grand prize in non-fiction), dubbed the “Nobel Prize for picture books,” in 2011 for A House of the Mind: Maum (published by Changbi) and illustrations by Yum Hyewon, who received the same award (honorable mention in fiction) in 2009 for Last Night. There is a child who is small enough to fit snugly into Mom’s bosom. He constantly experiences something in everyday life—buttoning up his clothes by himself notwithstanding clumsiness, nibbling on food, cutting out and gluing pieces of colored paper, saying good-bye to his friend after playing together, bursting into tears after being scolded by Mom, hugging his younger sibling tightly, gazing at the clouds as they float by, and strolling in the park. This book lovingly depicts youngsters, who ceaselessly grow in mind and body though the process may not be obvious to the eye or clearly expressible, by portraying moments at which children are alone at times, get hurt, are healed, part from others, find themselves in peculiarspaces, and spend time tediously in the routines of daily life. Although growth is realized only after time has passed, the volume conveys the message that children are already “growing up” at all moments—not only happy and joyful ones but also boring, sad, and painful ones.
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Picture book
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Granny’s Summer Vacation
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Magical imagination that will cool midsummer
Another summer story drawn by the author of Watermelon Swimming Pools “I’ll let you hear sounds of the sea”
One day, Granny has an unexpected summer vacation! Granny’s Summer Vacation is the second original picture book by “Bonsoir lune” (Park So Young), who received enthusiastic responses and high expectations from children and adults alike with her picture book Watermelon Swimming Pools (published by Changbi), which sparkles with brilliant imagination. Noteworthy for its imagination, which freely moves between reality and fantasy, this work begins with a grandson visiting his solitary grandmother one summer day. The space in which Granny lives is depicted in detail through objects including a buzzing old electric fan, television set, family photographs, an armchair, a small traditional Korean low dining table, and dainty flower pots. Although there is no explanatory text, readers can fully surmise her personality and feelings with the illustrations alone. After her grandson has given her a conch that resonates with the sounds of ocean waves and departed, Granny is seated in an empty room, watching the television. Suddenly, she goes inside the conch with her puppy Mary and comes to enjoy a summer vacation. The author presents an impressive expression throughout the work by contrasting the home where Granny leads her everyday life and the seaside where she enjoys a vacation. Whereas the protagonist’s home is exquisitely depicted through bric-a-brac, the sea is shown as a space where a wide-open view and a bold composition unfold. While Granny is portrayed as reticent and quiet in her daily life, she is presented as lighthearted and humorous at the sea. Adding outstanding imagination and sensitive mise-en-scène, the author spins the magical event that occurs to the heroine into a fascinating story. Granny’s Summer Vacation is a picture book where, through Granny, who embarks on an unexpected vacation, readers will be able to enjoy the joy of vacations and travel to their hearts’ content.
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Picture book, Changbi Books_Children > Picture book
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The Flower petal Dresses of the Dressmaker in the Forest
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Choi Hyang-rang’s earlier volumes, The Dressmaker in the Forest and The Dressmaker in the Forest and the Hairy Monster (both published by Changbi) are heartwarming picture books where a seamstress in the forest makes clothes for sylvan animals and Kungkung, an abandoned puppy. In The Flower Petal Dresses of the Dressmaker in the Forest, children who have come to the dressmaker in the forest put on diversely colored flower petal clothes each day and express their ever-changing minds in terms of colors, thus focusing on color-induced visual stimulation and emotional connection. The page spreads of this latest book follow the order of red-yellow-green-blue-brown-violet-pink-white and each feature a youngster. In disparately colored attires, the children chirp that red clothes make you want to dance, yellow ones make you laugh for no reason, and blue ones make you want to be alone at times. The left side of each spread is decorated with dozens of diverse flowers, leaves, seeds, sepals, colored paper, and fabrics, thus stimulating youngsters’ five senses including vision. On the right side, a child character dressed in petals of the color of each scene expresses any one of a variety of feelings including passion, delight, loneliness, and sadness, thus forging emotional bonds with young readers. As such, this book will help youngsters to look into, understand, and express their own minds.
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Picture book
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I Ran Like the Wind
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Kim Nam-jung calmly but humorously depicts the ways in which the protagonist, a young boy, makes memories as he rides his bicycle. Besotted with his two-wheeler, the hero at one time has his bike stolen and hurts his elbows and knees after falling while speeding. Nevertheless, his love for the bicycle continues unabated. Exhilarated whenever he sees wheels, the protagonist vigorously pedals on until his thighs hurt. He rushes down slopes against crosswinds at unstoppable speeds and is undaunted even by bumpy gravel paths. The boy fosters his dreams, has first inklings of the strange emotion of love, and bonds with his friends as he rides his bike. The thirteen tales related to the two-wheeler including “Min-gyeong the Iron Legs,” which is about taking part in a grand bike trip, “A Bicycle for Two,” which is about riding with the girl whom the hero likes, and “The Big Fishing Adventure,” which is about the protagonist and his friends going to catch fish, combine to form a single story while retaining their individual flavors and themes—a demonstration of the author’s outstanding craftsmanship.
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Changbi Books > Children > Fiction > Age 10-13, Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Fiction
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Don’t Copy Me
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Don’t Copy Me! is a picture book that depicts how three- and four-year-olds, a time when children form their sense of self and learn to forge relationships with people around them, makes friends with and become close to their peers. It wittily portrays the process through which Sae-mi and Gang-i engage in a mental tug-of-war but are ultimately reconciled while eating snacks together. With her unique sensibility and through heartwarming drawings, Jeong Soon-hee vividly captures and expresses psychological changes in youngsters as they are revealed in ordinary and familiar everyday situations, thus winning and engrossing readers. By muting the background and focusing solely on changes in the movements and facial expressions of the two protagonists and a cat and unfolding the story through simple, repetitive dialogues and a variety of onomatopoeias and words mimicking motions, she immediately captivates readers. Storyline
Sae-mi and Gang-i are youngsters aged three or four. Between them is Yaong, a cat. Bored alone, Sae-mi looks at and mimics the animal. Seeing this, Gang-i then apes her, claiming that she is “better” at it. Feeling that the girl is teasing her, the little girl is chafed—even though, she, too, has imitated Yaong. Sae-mi tells Gang-i not to copy her, but she takes no notice whatsoever. In the end, the little girl decides to play by herself once again… Will the two children ever become close friends?
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Picture book
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African Chocolate
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We are in the savannahs of Africa. “Hey, stop!”
A band of tourists suddenly appears and chases after animals such as zebras and warthogs in a car, absorbed in taking photographs of the continent’s beasts and pressing the shutters of their cameras each second. In the process, an entire chocolate bar falls from the driver’s mouth through the car window… Which animal will win the trophy, now lying on the ground? “Sniff-sniff, what is this?”
A nearby rufous elephant shrew discovers the snack, which is the size of its body, and is about to take a big bite for a taste, only to have it whisked away by a giraffe: “What’s that? Hand it over!” However, a grivet appears all of a sudden, having climbed a tree to approach the lofty animal, and quickly snatches and unwraps the chocolate bar—too preoccupied with the new treat to notice a lion lurking behind a boulder. The scene changes to show the lion sleeping, with the prized sweet securely held in his front paws. A clever agama coaxes the chocolate bar from the king of beasts with a lullaby and darts away, only to find itself face to face with a warthog. The trophy subsequently changes hands, from a cheetah to an elephant and then a cattle egret. None, however, fully possesses it. The chocolate dwindles in size as it melts in the African heat and in and under the mouths and hooves of the animals among which it is passed around. By the time a gorilla finally gets hold of it, the prize has already melted away, leaving only the wrapping. From rufous elephant shrews to gorillas, animals that have had even a taste of the treat now start chasing after the group of sightseers.
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Picture book
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Ahmose the King of Thieves
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Ahmose the King of Thieves unfolds against the backdrop of Egypt in the 14th century BC. In the course of following the adventures of the protagonist and his friends, readers will come to have a sense of ancient Egypt, which constructed an immense civilization through pharaohs’ mausoleums and murals of the afterlife. As Ahmose and his friends meander through alleys in search of the Eye of Horus, we are presented with a glimpse of the lives of ordinary people as well. Through meticulous research, Jo Seung-yeon realistically portrays not only the kings’ tombs and the scenery along the Nile River but also details such as the personages’ hairstyles and clothing, thus bringing to life Egypt no fewer than 3,400 years ago. The writer not only perfectly recreates unfamiliar time and space but also stars vivacious characters including the very likable hero, thus turning Ahmose the King of Thieves not into a monotonous story of history but into a tale that is immediate, as if it were taking place before our eyes. The depiction of ancient Egypt in this volume feels realistic thanks in no small part to the drawings. The illustrator not only portrays contemporary customs in great detail but also vividly conveys the atmosphere of ancient Egypt with colors that are reminiscent of Egyptian murals. Youngsters who read this volume are sure to embark on an exciting time trip along with a realistic setting, a vivid story, and unique pictures. Ahmose is a boy famed as the foremost thief in Egypt. However, he is wrongly accused of having stolen the Eye of Horus, a piece of jewelry necessary for pharaoh Tutankhamun’s funeral, and pursued. To clear his name, the protagonist sets out to find the treasure together with the twin brothers Ipo and Ipy, Miu the monkey, and the mysterious animal Sphinx. During the search for the Eye of Horus, Ahmose discovers a link between the great conspiracy surrounding the theft and his parents’ deaths. To clear himself of the unjust charge and to shed light on the truth of his parents’ deaths, the boy decides to stand up against those who hatched the plot. Despite a life-threatening crisis, he does not give up and moves closer to the truth, step by step. Will Ahmose find the Eye of Horus indeed? Will he uncover the great scheme?
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Changbi Books > Children > Fiction > Age 10-13, Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Fiction
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I’m Caterpillar No.7 in 3rd Graders’ Homeroom No.2
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The special adventures of a wiggly caterpillar Born into the nest box in homeroom no. 2 of 3rd graders is the seventh caterpillar. Christened “Caterpillar No. 7,” this larva is very curious about humans and the world, unlike his peers, which are wary of humans and focus all of their energy only on becoming butterflies. Indeed, the insect captivates the children by observing them instead of being observed and showing off its skill at creating nifty patterns with cabbage leaves instead of solely eating them to live. The youngsters bestow on the unusual Caterpillar No. 7 the new name of “Patterned Caterpillar.” One day, however, cabbage leaves tainted with pesticides enter the hitherto peaceful nest box, thus putting the larvae in 3rd graders’ homeroom no. 2 in a dire crisis. Instead of powerlessly waiting, the Patterned Caterpillar send signals for help to the children… Will the youngsters recognize the Patterned Caterpillar’s desperate plea? Will the litter bug manage to turn into a butterfly without any trouble?
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Changbi Books > Children > Fiction > Age 6-8, Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Fiction
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The Umbrella Library
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One rainy day, Geon-yul, who has no family member to bring an umbrella to school, comes up with the idea for an “umbrella library” during a presentation session on the spur of the moment: that is, the school should have a place from which children can borrow umbrellas, like a library from which books can be checked out, to help those who do not happen to have umbrellas on rainy days. Though the boy is a friendless, his idea unexpectedly wins support from fellow youngsters so that, amidst concerned opposition from grownups, 5th-year students in homeroom no. 2 come together to create an umbrella library. In the process of following the children as they occasionally face frustration but soon muster courage and overcome adults’ opposition step by step, readers will find themselves cheering for the successful opening of the umbrella library. Indeed, the youngsters’ efforts to make a meaningful change at school, a microcosm of society, even exhibit healthy civic consciousness. One of the strengths of this work is depicting an attitude of helping disadvantaged people through perplexing or troubling situations that everyone will have encountered, thus readily arousing readers’ empathy, instead of presenting it merely as an abstract obligation. In scenes where the children willingly show consideration for others instead of acting from a sense of duty and feel happiness greater than what they have given to others, readers, too, will feel rewarded. Another gift left by the umbrella library is the creation of mutual trust, dependence, and friendship among the youngsters, who were busy bickering with one another at the beginning of the story. Storyline Geon-yul, a 12-year-old boy, has difficulties with school life because his father is bedridden after being in an unforeseen accident while performing a good deed. When the child whom Dad saved during the accident enters his school so that chance encounters occur, the protagonist is reminded of his father and pained even more. One rainy day, without a family member to bring him an umbrella, Geon-yul presents the idea for an umbrella library during a presentation session on the spur of the moment, which unexpectedly wins his classmates’ support. Amidst adults’ concerned opposition, he and his peers come together to create the umbrella library, and the boy gradually comes to understand Dad’s intentions and feelings, which he has refused to do so far. Will the children be able to open the umbrella library as they wish?
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Changbi Books > Children > Fiction > Age 8-10, Changbi Books > Children
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Let’s Play with World History!
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A new world history that unfolds on maps
All kids who are learning world history for the first time are invited! Let’s Play with World History! a history book for children learning world history for the first time, has been published. An inquisitive child, the protagonist, and a librarian with a wealth of knowledge learn about the history of the world in the process of pointing at maps and sharing questions and answers. Consisting not of a dry exposition but of an intriguing tale, this volume unfolds the diverse histories, religions, and cultures of Africa, Asia, Europe, Americas, and Oceania. It uniquely guides youngsters to have an open worldview by going beyond a narrative that centers on Western history and heroes and describing in simple language the everyday lives of people who have lived on a variety of continents on Earth. In addition, in keeping with the subtitle “A New Story of History Found on Maps,” the picture maps and historical photographs that appear appropriately as each page is turned will aid children to understand world history with greater ease. This book is the volume on history in the Changbi Books for Learning about Society Series. A book that can be read with ease and interest by children learning world history for the first time
For youngsters learning world history for the first time and their parents alike, the immense quantity of global history will be the greatest burden. To alleviate such concerns, Let’s Play with World History! consists of one fun tale so that readers will not be overwhelmed by the amount of knowledge. Living on an island from which the sea can be seen, the young protagonist is fascinated by the histories, geography, religions, and cultures of other words while looking at the big old world map on the kitchen wall and learns about the stories of far-off lands through free-style lessons with the librarian. Turning the spotlight on diverse peoples around the world!
Transcending a worldview focusing on the West or powerful individuals and groups, Let’s Play with World History! endeavors to address the histories of various peoples across the globe. Divided into five parts in accordance with the number of continents, the book guides readers to the history of the human race, starting with Africa and progressing to Asia, Europe, Americas, and Oceania, in this order. This is none other than the sequence in which humans settled down on each continent of Earth. In the process, the volume comprehensively teaches readers even about regions not often dealt with in other history books such as India and Antarctica. While following this progression, readers will naturally come to pay attention to the histories not only of large, powerful nations but also of the diverse peoples who have lived around the world. Examining the history of groups including the paraiyars (pariahs), the lowest caste in India who are not allowed even to drink from village wells, and Native Americans/First Nations, who were bereft of nearly all of their land by white people over a century, this volume warmly embraces those who were all too often excluded from existing historical narratives. Let’s Play with World History! will thus help youngsters to see the world from a broad perspective as they acquire increasingly complex and difficult knowledge in the growth process. Friendly maps that combine natural geography and human geography
Noteworthy in Let’s Play with World History! are over 30 maps, which have been painstakingly drawn by hand. Unlike atlases used at South Korean schools, which try to cram as much information as possible on maps, these maps are unique in naturally arranging information so that they can be appreciated like paintings, thus enabling youngsters to understand the information from the main text more easily on the maps.
Each section presents maps that allow readers to grasp at a glance the natural terrain of each continent such as mountain ranges, each continent such as mountain ranges, plateaus, rivers, seas, forests, and deserts and that present national borders and country names. In addition, places associated with historically important events or culturally noteworthy remains are presented separately through small maps and photographs, thus enhancing readers’ visual understanding. Thus encompassing on maps information on both natural geography and human geography, Let’s Play with World History! is expected to be established as a volume suited to children who learn the history of the world for the first time.
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Changbi Books > Children, Changbi Books > Children > Non-fiction