The main character, Soo-Ah, decided not to like buckwheat jelly anymore, because her classmates made fun of her by calling her ‘old-fashioned’ girl when she told she liked buckwheat jelly. She could not understand why they made fun of her about liking buckwheat jelly, but she felt bad being a joke. Therefore, she decided not to like buckwheat jelly anymore. For elementary school children who just began their first social life through school, it takes courage to accept the ‘difference’ from others. 

Therefore, her new partner, Gae-Wool, is a new worry. She always sings out loud whenever she wants to, and she also likes buckwheat jelly like Soo-Ah. However, she never feels bad about herself even if children make fun of her. Why do I start to like Gae-Wool? Doe, Gae-Wool is totally different from any goblins in books so far. She is small and skinny. She cannot even create the gold bar with her goblin wand. She is just an innocent ‘girl’, who does not know how to bully others, instead, she likes people very much. Through this silly but warm story how these two friends become close friends each other, children readers will be able to work up courage to be themselves as they are, and to open their minds becoming friends with unique people.  

Hwang Jiyoung

Hwang Jiyoung made her literary debut in 2013 by publishing her work in the monthly magazine Children and Literature. She won the Grand Prize for Short Fiction at the 8th Woongjin Junior Literature Awards. Real Marae earned her the 14th Ma Haesong Literary Prize. Hwang’s publications include Saving Grandma and Friend Calculator (co-authored).

Ae Shoong

(Russian) Эшун работает иллюстратором в разных областях. Она написала и нарисовала лююстрации к таким книгам как сказка с картинками «Прекрасные картины Пепе», «Коллекционер предложений, Стерео», комиксам «Ритм и ритм» а также сборнику коротких комиксов «История о пыли». Кроме того она также проилллюстрировала такие сказки как «Великое приключение мыши» и «Надоело стирать белье».

(English) Aeshoong is an illustrator who works in various fields. She wrote and illustrated the picture books Pepe's Wonderful Paintings and Stereo, a Sentence Collector, the graphic short story collections Lead and Rhythm, and One Day I Found Dust. She also illustrated the children's books, The Mouse Did Great Work and I'm Sick of Doing Laundry.