- Overview
-
A Story of Timid Sunfishes Told by a Small Fish that Lives in the Mola Mola Sea
- Book Intro
-
(English) Hey, Sunfish!
When someone has a timid or cowardly attitude, the Korean people jokingly say, “You’re like a sunfish.” This expression originated from the belief that sunfish die easily for trivial reasons. However, this is not true. Out of the 300 million newborn sunfishes, only one or two survive and reach adulthood because they are only as big as one millimeter. This extremely low survival rate is the reason that people think that sunfish are so oversensitive that they die early. Hey, Sunfish! intends to tackle this prejudice in a fun, interesting way.
The main character of this book is a small fish that secretly lives beneath a sunfish. Because sunfish die so quickly, this small fish goes through various hardships. But as the small fish experiences this again and again, it becomes stronger and more robust. At first, the small fish behaves similar to a sunfish, but the small fish becomes brave in the face of difficulties. We also undergo difficult moments in life: we hesitate to move forward out of fear; we want to give up everything at once; or we sometimes have to calm down our pounding hearts. If anything like this happens, instead of depending on someone, how about mustering up your courage and handling the matter on your own? There are sunfish, which people tease for their fragile mentality, and a small fish, which wants to solve its problems on its own. Which one do you want to be?
- About the Author
-
Lee Seonjoo
Lee Seonjoo had been drawing in a small—yet, in some sense, large—room, and stories finally found their way to her. Hey, Sunfish! is her first book.
- Selection
-
This book was recommended for the Book of the Month by The Korean Children Publishing Committee in August 2021.