- Overview
-
This story portrays the conflict between children who want to play at the playground and adults who deter them due to potential “property value” decline. By reading about the children who confidently raise the issue of the adults’ narrow-minded greed, we can reflect on the selfishness of these grown-ups.
- Book Intro
-
Anyone Can Play at the Playground
Yoonki was deeply engrossed in his marble game. During winter vacation, he stayed at his grandfather’s house in the countryside and learned how to play it. The sound of marbles rolling and colliding on the dirt ground resonated in Yoonki’s heart. After that, Yoonki taught his friends who weren’t familiar with the game. With Yoonki’s enthusiastic encouragement, even friends who were too busy playing phone games after school or going to hagwons started to appreciate the charm of playing marbles and joined. Regrettably, there weren’t many places to play marbles near their homes. The schoolyard was under construction to become a parking lot, and Hope Playground had been transformed into a small park, with the dirt ground replaced by synthetic rubber surfaces.
Fortunately, a newly built apartment complex had a suitable place for Yoonki and his friends to play marbles. For the first time in a long time, they excitedly played and jumped around on the apartment playground that had state-of-the-art play equipment. However, strangely, there were no other children at the playground. As it turned out, the adults had forbidden them from playing there. Moreover, Yoonki and his friends were chased away from the apartment playground because they weren’t residents.
Playgrounds are the domain of children, but the adults had arbitrarily decided that children shouldn’t play there. Yoonki doesn’t simply accept this unfair treatment from the adults; he deeply contemplates whether their words are truly right. He also discusses his thoughts with his classmates, parents, and teachers, seeking his own solution. It’s easy for children to think that adults are always right. However, this book encourages children to confidently express their thoughts and find their rights in the face of unfair situations that they may experience just because they are children.
- About the Author
-
Choi Eun Yung
(English) While working as a broadcast writer for children’s shows, Choi Eunyung was drawn into the charm of children’s stories. In 2006, she made her debut and received the Blue Literary Award and the Golden Pen Children’s Literature Award. She was also honored with the Uriedu Children’s Book Writer Award for Endure and Survive and the Open Children’s Literature Award for The One Ddakji. Among her written works are A Fine Day; Here Comes the Content Creator; A Very Special Book Fair; The Secrets of the Ugly Anchovies and the Diary; My Class’s Anti-Bullying Advocate; The Day We Harvest Seaweed Gim; The Ghost Teacher and the Study Bugs; The Secret Family; The Dreaming Ramie Fabric and the Hip-Hop Trio; and Our Book Jikji’s Wish.
Shim Yoonjung
(English) Shim Yoonjung strives to create more enjoyable and cheerful illustrations with a childlike heart. In 2009, she received the silver prize in the Korean Hans Christian Andersen competition. Among the books she has illustrated are Someone Who Will Take Pain in My Place; A Wish Diary; Would You Like to Open the Lucky Box?; Rap Star Moon Jihye; I Dislike Being Compared, I Like Being Myself!; The City of Happiness; The Space President; The Vaccine Against First Love; We Are in 1st Grade; Come Play at Mimi’s Store!; A God Lives in My House; The Flying Chowon Apartment, Ms. Kim Jeombun’s Swag! and One Day at the Bathhouse.
