New Clothes for New Year's Day by Hyun-Ju Bae

"Today is New Year's Day.

It's a new year

it's a new day, and

it's a new morning.

It's the first day for the beginning of everything."

New Year's Day is an important holiday in Korea. Children wear special clothes. In this book the little girl carefully puts on each piece of clothing:

"She wears a crimson silk skirt, a rainbow-striped jacket and a furry vest. She puts on cotton socks and shoes, both embroidered with flowers. She also wears a headband and ties a hair of ribbon of red and gold to the end of the braid. Her hat protects her from the cold as she makes her New Year visits. She also has a lucky charm and bag to hang from the jacket string."

Symbolism

• Rainbow-striped jacket represents things such as water, fire, metal, wood and earth.
• The striped patter represents the wish that the wearer be in harmony.
• The embroidery on the socks is for good luck.

You can see the whole book here on this video. Sadly, this book is long out of print but it might be in your school or local library. Today marks the beginning of Chinese New Year celebrations but it would be good to share this book to show how this event is also celebrated in Korea. New Clothes for New Year was a 2008 USBBY notable book.

KOREAN NEW YEAR ACTIVITIES 2024 Saturday 10th February

Give gifts

In addition to yummy food and family reunions, another reason that Seollal is a special holiday is the custom of giving and receiving gifts. This gift-giving extends beyond homes to workplaces when companies usually offer each of their employees a gift as well. So the best way to celebrate would be by giving gifts.

Play folk games

We can also celebrate by participating in traditional folk games. Folk games are a major part of New Year festivities for Koreans. The most commonly played game is ‘Yut Nori,’ a traditional Korean board game. Men also go out for some kite flying, starting on the Lunar New Year and in the days leading up to the new year’s first full-moon day. For young women, ‘neol ddwigi’ is also a popular activity.

Eat Korean food

Almost any large family gathering in any culture generally revolves largely around food. So an amazing way to celebrate Korean New Year is by eating Korean food. One main dish that is considered comfort food during Korean New Year is ‘Tteokguk’ (rice cake soup). This starchy and soothing bowl of soup is a beloved New Year's tradition.

More information here. 

Snail by Minu Kim translated by Mattho Mandersloot

 

This is a gentle book with a big theme - growing up can be hard. The youngest brother really wants to ride his bike with the big boys but his legs are too small, his pushbike cannot go fast enough and soon he is left far behind. He keeps riding but then has an accident and all his pent up frustration of the ride and his brother's taunts and his own inability to ride fast enough comes pouring out.

But it can be okay to be small. The little boy spies a tiny snail climbing a tree and when he climbs up too he discovers a new perspective on the whole scene - he can see his way home and he can see small creatures (and boys) can be mighty.

From a visual literacy point of view it is interesting to see the way the first third of this book is done with black and white pencil sketches with the addition of tiny red spot colour used for the young boy's bike helmet so he is easy identify the hero of our story. Then about  two thirds of the way through the book, as the boy's anger cools, the sky fills with the colours of sunset. Make sure you stop to notice the tiny snail on the front and back end papers too. This echoes the theme that tiny things can have a big impact. Many pages of this book are wordless which I found meant I slowed down my reading and lingered over each scene. I also love the way the title on the cover looks as though it has been smudged by the wandering snail. 

Bookwagon adores Snail. Minu Kim’s debut picture book is a triumph, the illustrations initially reminding this reader of the works of Goscinny and Sempé, but then the perspective and use of line and sequence give way to a glorious, colourful philosophical reveal. We recommend Snail highly as a picture book to gift to all ages. It’s one to treasure, know and keep active in our minds and hearts.

WONDER: Wordless Picture Books by 7 artists from South Korea

 

When you begin to read the stories of picture books without words, the question mark now hovering over your head will become an exclamation mark of amazement.

This week I visited this exhibition Wonder: Wordless Picture Books -  in Sydney with two friends and we all agreed this is one of VERY BEST picture book exhibitions we have ever attended. One friend commented "The curator has done a superb job ... (the author of the commentary) is a real wordsmith."

The exhibition features books, original illustrations, preliminary sketches, drawings, artists’ video and ephemera from 7 Korean artists; Nahye, Hyungshik Nam, Inkyung Noh, Barim, Gihun Lee, Sumi Lee and JiHyeon Lee.

Why was this exhibition so special?

• Lots of space to move around allowing you to stand back and then move in closer to view the art
• Generous examples of art from the featured books by the seven Korean illustrators
• A shelf under every illustrator profile with a collection of the books to read
• An activity table for young children
• A small library shelf area with all the books from the exhibition and many more Korean picture books along with comfy seating for children and parents
• Intriguing wordless or as we call them in IBBY Silent books for all ages from very young children through to adults - we found ourselves exclaiming over so many of them
• We puzzled over the images of whales in so many of the books (see the whale from Pool below)
• A table display of artist materials and techniques (it was difficult not to touch this display)
• A very informative and huge video display where the seven artists discuss their work
• Places to sit and read and read and read - make sure you peel back any dust jackets to reveal the surprises often found underneath

This description of the exhibition and the way wordless books work is so beautifully expressed:

We feel disconcerted when we open a book without words. And then we wonder, what does this book want to tell us? Instead of ‘reading words’ as we are accustomed to, we concentrate on paying attention to the pictures and ‘reading the story of pictures.’ Picture book artists create a story from pictures, which is complete when the people who read it add to the story with their imagination. 

The artists who create picture books without words meticulously consider and plan each picture’s colour, composition, page layout and pagination to build this visual literacy. They also use the synergy that often occurs with the juxtaposition of multiple images.

These seven Korean picture book artists are renowned in Korea and around the world for their diverse techniques, compositions and unique subjects. With their works, we are drawn into a variety of different stories. 

Her books are Pool; Door; A Strange House; and Last Island

Read more about Pool here. And see inside the book here.

Whale from Pool

Book: Find "One day a child unexpectedly turns into a bear ... "

Book: Running

Book: The Breath

Book: Swish, Tap Tap Boom!

Books: The Egg; The Tin Bear; and 09.47 

Book: In the Museum

My favourite books (so far - I am going back next week) were The Breath, A Strange House and Pool. I will add more photos to this post after my next visit. IBBY focus on wordless books which they call Silent Books - read more here. I do hope many of the books from this selection have been submitted to IBBY for the Lampedusa collections. Korean illustrator Suzy Lee won the Hans Christian Andersen award in 2022, her work is not part of this exhibition but a number of her wordless or silent books have been included by IBBY in their Silent Book collections. 

If you visit this exhibition in Sydney you could also call into the State Library of NSW to see their illustration exhbition - Imagine.