VOL.93/2026.04

 

Writer Seo Hyun

There is always laughter in imagination

 

2025.10.02

 

Technology develops, and the world advances for a more comfortable life, but we are living so busily that we barely have time to look up at the sky. Just as we have grown distant from books that are read slowly and savored, we have grown closer to videos that we flip through quickly. So, what about picture books? Picture books may be quicker to read than texts, but they keep us on the page longer than videos, offering a leisurely kind of reading that helps us look at the world more warmly. And, this is not just limited to children. Picture books introduce children to a rich new world and help adults regain the leisure and laughter they have lost. And, there is a tender-spirited author who touches our hearts with such picture books - Seo Hyun.

 

 

It’s an honor to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please say hello to our readers with a brief introduction of yourself.

 

Hello, I am picture book author-illustrator Seo Hyun. I am delighted and grateful to be able to share my stories about picture books with you.

 

Your debut title, released in 2009, The Sea of Tears (Sakyejul Publishing), delighted not only children but also adults, by humorously triggering their tear ducts. It continues to be loved to this day. Could you tell us how The Sea of Tears first came about?

 

The Sea of Tears was originally created as an assignment while I was studying picture books at the Hanguk Illustration School (HILLS). As it was my first time making a picture book, I felt overwhelmed, but when the instructor told us to start with a story from our childhood memories, what came to my mind was “tears.” I cried a lot as a child. I cried when scolded by my parents, of course, but I also often cried over anxious thoughts. Thoughts like, “What if there’s a fire at home?” and “What if my parents get into an accident and I am left all alone in the world?” Looking back now, these were common worries any child might have, but I don’t know why I burst into tears so often. Back then, I believed I was especially prone to crying. I could never cry loudly; I always cried in silence. While making The Sea of Tears, I wanted to comfort and cheer up that little child I once was. I think readers resonated with those feelings, which is why they came to love this book. I am truly grateful.

 

 

In Got Bigger! (Sakyejul Publishing), you dynamically captured both children’s desire to grow taller and their boundless imagination. Could you share the secret to capturing children’s hearts so well and conveying it in such an enjoyable way?

 

It was one summer day over ten years ago, during the monsoon season, when the rain was pouring down refreshingly. I suddenly felt the urge to step outside and get soaked, so I put on a raincoat and went to a park thick with trees. There, I witnessed a wondrous sight - the trees gulping down the rain and then, swoosh! - stretching high into the sky. For a brief moment, I was completely immersed in nature and was carried into a dreamlike scene. That vivid feeling has never left me. Out of that memory, mingled with the boundless energy of a child’s growth, came the story of Got Bigger!. When I make stories, I always recall the child within me. I slip naturally into a child’s mode, using different memories as material for imagination. It feels like play. And as the imagination continues, sometimes the story takes a completely different direction from what I first envisioned, but that is the true charm of it.

 

 

Many reviews of Itchy Itchy (Sakyejul Publishing) say that children can’t help but dance along while reading it. The adventure, which begins with a single strand of hair, leaves a deep impression even on adults reading alongside children. Did you actually try out the dances and movements in the book yourself while drawing? Were there any models or inspirations you referred to?

 

I couldn’t come up with sophisticated moves because I am no dancer, but I imagined the liveliest gestures possible in my mind as I drew. Sometimes I even tried them out a little while sketching. Rather than aiming for realistic dance movements, my focus was on “gestures that feel joyful.” Just as a song can make you hum and sway without realizing it, I wanted to convey sheer joy and excitement to readers. That’s how Itchy Itchy was born.

 

 

In Horai-Fried Eggs (Sakyejul Publishing) and Horai Horai-Fried Eggs (Sakyejul Publishing), a character named “Horai” takes steps toward a wider world. The books combine playful imagination with glimpses of character growth. What story did you want to tell through “Horai”?

 

The Horai series actually talks about “imagination” through the character named “Horai,” a fried egg. Horai refuses its fate as food and easily breaks free from it. That, I think, is the power of imagination. Just like imagination, which constantly changes and knows no bounds, Horai embodies infinite possibilities. In Horai Horai-Fried Eggs, Horai appears as an alien lifeform that devours the Earth, plunging the world into darkness. Then, a god appears and replaces the Earth’s empty space with another egg. While working on the Horai series, I often thought: though we are bound to this land by gravity and other constraints, perhaps it is imagination that truly saves and liberates us.

 

 

In Rice Cake House of a Tiger (Sakyejul Publishing) and Grass Bug Picture Dream (Sakyejul Publishing), readers encounter motifs from Korean folk paintings. Have traditional paintings, classical artworks, music, or folktales influenced your work or artistic style?

 

Rice Cake House of a Tiger was inspired by the folktale The Brother and Sister Who Became the Sun and the Moon, while Grass Bug Picture Dream was inspired by Shin Saimdang’s painting “Chochungdo (草蟲圖; Insects and Plants).” I have always liked folktales, but I hadn’t considered using them as motifs for picture books until I was working with “Vacances,” a group project I belong to. The two books are quite different, aside from drawing inspiration from tradition and using comic panels as a device. Rice Cake House of a Tiger is loud and fast-paced. I wanted to twist the terrifying image of the tiger from Korean folktales into a new character and put it in comic predicaments, creating a thrilling story.
Meanwhile, Grass Bug Picture Dream is quiet and calm. I imagined the hidden stories within the old painting “Chochungdo,” and connected them to dreams. Readers often recall Zhuangzi’s The Butterfly Dream (胡蝶之夢) when they read this book. I wanted to explore the meaning of dreams and the boundaries between dream and reality within this Eastern worldview. And, since it was about dreams, I left the ending ambiguous.

 

 

You mentioned the “Vacances” project, in which you are working alongside many popular picture book authors. Could you tell us more about this project and your work in it?

 

“Vacances” was formed in 2019 and currently consists of 18 picture book authors who create various forms of independent publications inspired by Korean folktales and culture. Breaking away from the conventional way of publishing with established publishers, we work freely, like going on vacation as the name “Vacances” suggests, handling everything from creation to production and sales ourselves. Of course, there are many difficulties and clumsy moments since we do everything on our own, but it’s enjoyable because it allows us to attempt things we couldn’t do within traditional publishing.

 

 

I have created independent publications, including Mr. Rabbit Goes to the Palace Under the Sea, Underwater Palace Travel Agency, Egg Ghost, Rice Cake House of a Tiger, and Grass Bug Picture Dream. These works recreated characters from folktales in various formats such as accordion books, flyers, coupons, card games, and comics. Among them, Rice Cake House of a Tiger and Grass Bug Picture Dream were later republished by Sakyejul Publishing. In those cases, rather than reprinting the original independent versions, I create entirely new versions.

 

 

Sometimes you work with a text writer and only meet readers through illustrations, as you did with Mr. Gall the Cat (Kookmin Books) and Why Can’t an Eight-Year-Old Cry? (Moonji Publications). How does that experience differ from when you make both text and illustrations yourself?

 

When collaborating with text writers, I enjoy encountering worlds I could never have imagined on my own. I try to illustrate the stories hidden between the lines without disrupting the writer’s world in the story. When I work on both text and illustrations, the world feels entirely mine, a playground where I can be as free and excited as I want. But, that also comes with greater responsibility. I often spend so long poring over the text that I hesitate to move on to drawing. Still, each time I complete such a project, I feel proud of myself.

 

 

Your works are never without humor. Are you personally a humorous person? Or, do you make an effort to seek out humor? If so, what kinds of efforts do you make, and how do you weave humor into your works?

 

I truly love humor. I enjoy spotting funny moments in various situations. But, I’m not very good at sharing them verbally with people. I think that’s why humor often finds its way into my books, it becomes my outlet. It feels like holding back what I want to say and then pouring it all into the book. I sometimes introduce myself as someone who “travels through my mind in search of humor and does one fun thing every day.” That reflects my wish to always find humor and joy in daily life.

 

 

I sometimes introduce myself as someone who ‘travels through my mind in search of humor
and does one fun thing every day.’

 

 

Are there any works in preparation at the moment? If so, please introduce them to us.

 

As I’m now raising my 17-month-old baby, it’s been difficult to find time for work, so things are moving along very slowly. I don’t have specific plans yet, but I would love to make a picture book for babies filled with a mother’s love.

 

Last but not least, could you share your goals or wishes, either as a picture book author or personally?

 

My hope is to cheer on children across the world with joy, including my own baby, with picture books filled with humor and warmth. And, on a personal note, my dream is to become a lovable grandmother one day.

 

 

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