- Overview
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- Book Intro
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Selected as the Winning Illustrator at the 2022 Bologna Book
Fair Illustrator’s Exhibition
New image for the world to witness
City Flight is a new work by author Park Hyun-min, who allows readers to experience the space of a picture book in three dimensions. The author, who has been expanding the scale of imagination in picture books through his publications such as So Much Snow, Let’s Play, and Finding Light, attracts attention to this work with more dynamic development and a deeper worldview. By depicting the cityscape through the eyes of dandelions blooming in the gaps of the sidewalk, he illuminates the lives of those who are easily marginalized in our society and skillfully breaks down the boundaries of a polarized world. Park Hyun-min won the Bologna Ragazzi Opera Prima 2021 Special Mention and was consecutively selected as a Winning Illustrator at Bologna Book Fair Illustrators Exhibition in 2022, garnering international attention.
The world up there and the world down here
Breaking down the boundaries of a polarized world
The narrator of City Flight is a dandelion in the middle of a forest of tall buildings. The dandelion lives in the cracks of the sidewalk and watches the people of the city. People ride bicycles, put on leather shoes, and hurry to their important destinations. The dandelion’s life in the city is often lonely and precarious, but the dandelion has grown to cherish the moments of joy that come in between. After a long season of falling leaves, snow, and new growth, a child approaches the dandelion. The child helps the dandelion experience the wider world, realizing the “city flight” that the dandelion has always dreamt of.
- About the Author
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Park Hyunmin
(English) Our mothers used to tell us goblins only come out at night. Sometimes, when I hear children out playing late at night, I look out the window, feeling the urge to go out and join them. I would wait in vain for them to ask me to come play. I'm sure you've heard those magic words that sweep you off your feet and whisk you away to the playground: "Guys! Come out and play!" With that in mind, I worked on this book, Let's Play Together, my second picture book. My first picture book, So Much Snow, was a study in space and scale; for this book I received the Bologna Ragazzi Award 2021 in the Opera Prima special mention category. Let's Play Together was chosen to be included in The Braw Amazing Bookshelf. My third picture book, Finding Light was chosen as the Korean selection for the Biennial of Illustration Bratislava BIB.
(Chinese) 作者对空间和尺寸颇有研究，希望所创作的绘本能对其进行再现。绘本处女作《巨大的眼睛》荣获2021年博洛尼亚最佳童书奖。《城市飞行》插画则让其斩获2022年博洛尼亚国际儿童图书展“年度插画家”的殊荣。2023年作品《小伙伴们，一起玩吧！》入选博洛尼最佳童书之100本优秀童书特展。《寻找光亮》则入选2023年韩国南怡图书插图双年展入围插画家参展作及2023年BIB韩国参展作。
(French) « Une étude de l’espace et de l’échelle. C’est ce que j’ai voulu transmettre à travers cette œuvre. » Son premier livre d’images « Grandes neiges » a remporté le Prix Bologna Ragazzi 2021. Il a été sélectionné dans la catégorie « Illustrateur de l’année » au Salon international du livre pour enfants de Bologne 2022 pour ses illustrations de « Vol en ville », et « Jouons, les enfants ! » a été sélectionné pour le prix Amazing Bookshelf au Bologna Ragazzi 2023. « Trouver la lumière » fait partie des livres présélectionnés dans la catégorie illustrateur au concours Nami 2023 et a été présentée au BIB en Corée.
