- Overview
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This is a story about an introverted girl named Sohee whose voice becomes endlessly faint in a presentation.
- Book Intro
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Listening is as important as speaking. Listening to the question in one's own mind is especially important.
In an era where self-expression is considered important, do we indeed acknowledge diversity in expression? Listening is as important as speaking. This is a new original story that talks about the importance of carefully listening to friends when they tell stories in their own unique ways.
The main character, Sohee, is a fifth-grader at an elementary school who has trouble giving presentations in front of friends. Her homeroom teacher makes her give a presentation every time, insisting that it will help her get better. Sohee, however, feels as if she has become a tiny black dot whenever her teacher asks her to present something. Every time her friends make fun of her and her Yun the Dot or her mom tries to drill into her how to properly express herself, Sohi becomes smaller.
One day, Sohee meets a substitute teacher whose self-introduction features the phrase "I'm a hopelessly slow lizard". The teacher finds Sohee's secret notebook, titled Mari, in which she has written her world of imagination, and this brings Sohee and the teacher closer to one another.
Sohee and the teacher create silly stories and exchange ideas on topics such as "Why do we have to study?" and "Is it really true that people can come to like each other through fighting?"
Sohee, who used to hear questions such as "What on earth are you thinking?" or "What are you going to be when you grow up?" really likes the lizard teacher, saying that her ideas deserve a perfect score since they do not have correct answers.
Sohee who introduces herself as "one who has a faint voice but dream of being a lizard" on the first day she meets the Lizard teacher becomes "a dreaming lizard that speaks her mind" who has no trouble expressing what she feels deep down inside.
What comes first, questions or answers?
This is a far easier question than that of the chicken and the egg. Yes, the question always comes first. Knowledge is a process in which one asks a question, finds an answer, and makes that answer one's own. We need to take a look back at ourselves and determine whether we insist that only an answer is knowledge without first going through the process of asking a question or searching for an answer.
Students will learn that a trembling, shaking star can actually be the brightest star by reading this book.
- About the Author
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Oh Yugyeong
Oh Yookyeong (F) was born on warm Jeju island. She loves storybooks, the summer night air, dim noises in dusky alleys, and unexpected, loud laughter. She wanted to convey her favorite scenes in good writing. As of 2018, she is learning together by teaching middle school students. Her books includes I Am Shaking Star, which describes the growth process of the introvert Sohee.
- Selection
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Happy Reading in the Morning Newspaper, 2017, Recommended Book
Cheakdoongi, 2017, Recommended Book