- Overview
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This picture book by Park Wansuh, one of the representative writers of our time, is a story of ants who find a cicada larva that has spent seven years underground to live a short but intense life in sweltering summer heat.
- Book Intro
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At this moment, with the rabid progression of urbanization, a new life may be growing underground, like the cicada larvae that develop voices and wings for as long as seven years and wait for their wonderful time on the ground, regardless of the changes of the world. This picture book colored with clay from the Andong region and natural pigments, touches on endurance, persistence, and the preciousness of life.
Over the past couple of years, famine has continued in the ant village where the field embraced by gentle earth has turned into a downtown area covered with concrete. A little ant finds fresh and large prey deep inside of the earth. All of the ants rush to the prey to deliver it to the shed. At this moment, a wise old ant stops them and blocks the way. The prey is a cicada larva that has been developing its voice and wings underground for almost seven years. Although the ants are so hungry, they decide to work together to help the cicada larva get up to the ground.
- About the Author
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Park Wan-suh
Park made her debut as an author in 1970 at the age of 40 when her work The Naked Tree was selected by a panel of judges. Until her passing in January 2011, she went on to publish 80 short story collections and 15 feature-length works of fiction, along with numerous children’s books, essay collections, and dramas. Her most well-known works include Mother’s Stake, Who Ate Up All the Shingah?, Unforgettable, and Applause to the Very Last. She has received 13 prizes for her contributions to fiction. Park took the many tragedies in her life and used them as inspiration for her art, and was excellent in identifying the everyday pain that people can relate to. She was also critical of the deep ironies in our society, as well as the shallowness of the middle class and the issue of gender inequality. And yet, the main themes that weave through all her works are those of hope and love.
Kim Sehyun
Kim Sehyun was born in 1963 in Yeongi in the South Chungcheong province of South Korea and raised in Daejeon. Kim majored in Oriental Painting in college. In 2004, Kim won the 4th Publication Art Award. In 2009, Kim was selected as an exhibition painting illustrator of the guest-country of honor. Books illustrated by Kim Sehyun include Same Shirts, Strong Bhusoong, The Isolated House in the Isolated area, Fish Bone, Mama Pheasant, Memories of Chung-Gu Hoe, Jongmyo Shrine where People Meet God, The Story of the Grateful Pheasants, The Island of Flowers, The Flower-Shaded Lake, Princess Pyeong-gang and Ondal the Stupid, A Badger and a Flea, The Camellias, and I Won't Go Out Even if the King Calls Me.
- Recommendation
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Munich International Youth Library (IYL), 2015, White Ravens
Seoul Metropolitan Office of Education, Recommended Book
School Librarian Council, Recommended Book
Happy Reading in the Morning, Recommended Book
- Selection
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International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), 2016, Honour List
Ministry of Environment, 2016, Good Environmental Book
Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea, Books to Read This Month
Included in the textbook of elementary school
Association for Research on Children's Publications, Selected Book
