VOL.83/2025.06

 

Goraebaetsok

A playground of stories that stimulate readers’ imaginations through books

 

2025.03.10

 

Books are a playground for the imagination. Children can grow stronger as they experience the world, develop their imaginations, and interact with each other by reading a variety of books. Books are a valuable medium that opens up a wide world of opportunities to explore. Goraebaetsok is a publishing house that produces original picture books and children’s books, provides opportunities for emerging authors, and collaborates with public libraries to expand access to picture books in many ways. The publishing house has also been participating in many international book fairs, expanding the horizons of Korean picture book publishing. Following is an interview with Kim Gu-Gyoung, the recently appointed president of the Korea Picture Book Publishers Association, on how Goraebaetsok, a publishing house that goes beyond just being a playground, but grows up with children, spreading the infinite value of picture books.

 

 

It’s a pleasure to have you with us on K-Book Trends. Please briefly introduce Goraebaetsok to our readers and explain its name.

 

“Goraein (古來人)” means “one who has lived from the past to the present” and refers to the cultural genes that are engraved in our hearts and passed on to us. “Goraebaetsok” is Goraein’s children’s book label and signifies a shelter-like place where we can imagine and play as much as we like. Goraebaetsok has been publishing original picture books and children’s books since 2012, and we share various stories in books with the world with the belief that we, who are different from each other, can get along and come together through imagination.

 

 

Goraebaetsok has been publishing original picture books, children’s books, and liberal arts books, with the motto “An imaginative playground where stories never end.” What does this motto mean specifically?

 

Goraebaetsok thinks that we all live and see the world from different perspectives. So, we believe that we can only relate and communicate with each other when we can see the world from another’s perspective. And, we also believe that what we need to see the world from another’s perspective is imagination. Goraebaetsok doesn’t say we “understand others,” but rather we “imagine others.” We think that our endless imagination is what connects us to each other, and that our endless connection to each other is what makes our world what it is. The world we are living in is “An imaginative playground where stories never end,” and that is, indeed, Goraebaetsok.

 

The picture book market is becoming increasingly competitive. What do you think makes Goraebaetsok unique in this environment, and what factors do you value most when planning a book?

 

Goraebaetsok’s picture books are mostly created by emerging authors. We are trying to showcase the unique characters of authors who have not yet been introduced to the world, without confining them to the framework of an already created world. We make books with the hope that readers will discover that there is another world out there that they didn’t see through the eyes of a unique author, feel that sense together, and remember that we have the power to change the world for the better in that moment. We believe that this is what is needed to keep diversity in the world, which can easily become uniform and insensitive, and that it will be a special competitive advantage that cannot be replaced in the market.

 

 

Goraebaetsok doesn’t say we “understand others,”
but rather, we “imagine others.”

 

 

Your reading journal is very impressive. What effect do you hope the reading journal will have on readers, and what value do you seek to convey through it?

 

When we make books, we experience reading them in different ways at different points in the process. The books look different and new in each situation, like when we first receive the sketches, when we meet and talk to the author, when we see the designed pages, or when someone else reads them to us. When we make reading journals, we realize that there are innumerable stories in a book; so, we believe that re-reading a book through reading journals is a deeper and more active process of reading, in which we discover other stories or even ourselves in the book.

 

Goraebaetsok has been supporting libraries and schools, art museums, and small bookstores with exhibitions of original illustrations from picture books. Please tell us about some of the projects you have worked on that are particularly memorable, and also why you continue to do them.

 

One day, we saw scenes from picture books framed and displayed on the walls of the hallway of a library we were visiting. It was a new and enjoyable experience to walk down the hallway and see the same pictures we saw in books. The idea that we want people who come to the library to have the same experience with our books as we had, is what inspired us to support the exhibition of original illustrations. Also, we hope that the space where books are stored, such as libraries and schools, will be filled with other aspects of books, such as authors’ stories, drawings, and activities, and become a playground where authors, publishers, and readers can talk together.

 

You are actively engaging with your readers by regularly publishing newsletters. How are these activities impacting Goraebaetsok, and what values do you want to convey to your readers?

 

Our newsletter is a simple, daily letter that Goraebaetsok sends to our readers every month. It features not only news of new titles or lectures as we make them, but also thoughts and stories that we hope will reach our readers; we hope that one day we will receive letters with new stories from our readers.

 

 

We are looking forward to reaching new readers
with new stories we will create.

 

 

We noticed that you are also participating in international book fairs, such as the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair. Please tell us about your experiences participating in them, the reactions from overseas readers, and the value Goraebaetsok gets from them.

 

It was the K-Book Copyright Market organized by the Publication Industry Promotion Agency of Korea (KPIPA) that sparked us to start actively participating in international book fairs. There, we were surprised by the number of overseas publishers interested in our books. So, in 2024, we participated in all the major international book fairs, such as the Taipei International Book Exhibition, Bologna Children’s Book Fair, Shanghai International Children’s Book Fair, and Frankfurt Book Fair. We were able to meet with less than 10 publishers at the previous Bologna Children’s Book Fair, but thanks to the growing interest in Korean literature and our consistent efforts, many buyers, including overseas publishers, secondary rights holders, and bookstores, came to our booth and showed interest at the 2024 Frankfurt Book Fair. The experience of communicating with each other in the unfamiliar world fills our hearts with the precious gifts of pride, confidence, and fulfillment.

 

 

Could you tell us about any of Goraebaetsok’s picture books that you would particularly recommend to international readers, and why?

 

We would like to recommend A Letter to the Forest Photo Studio by Lee Si-Won, which has been exported to France after Taiwan, China, and Poland. The book, which tells the story of how the society we live in can become a warm family-like community if we reach out beyond the boundaries of our own family and offer kind words and small help to someone close to us, is highly anticipated to be loved by more international readers in the future.
Another book is Our Home by Jin Joo and Jin Kyung, which was exported to Switzerland (French edition). Already selected in France for the 2022 Prix Du Livre Jeunesse Écolo as well as the 4th Prix Maya 2023 in the category of children’s literature and the 35th Prix Des Incorruptibles (2023/2024), we would love to share with others the deep resonance and meaning conveyed by the beautiful illustrations of this book. We also hope that the potential of the author, who has captured them so well, will be recognized by many others.

 

 

You were recently appointed as the new president of the Korea Picture Book Publishers Association. What do you think Korean picture book publishers need in terms of institutional support to continue to grow, and what is Goraebaetsok doing to help?

 

Thanks to the continued success of Korean picture book authors in other countries and the emergence of many talented authors in the picture book field, the number of picture book publishers releasing diverse and unique picture books is increasing. The Korea Picture Book Publishers Association is an association formed by picture book publishers to keep the picture book market healthy and steady. The Association organizes the “New Author Picture Book Contest” to help new authors publish their picture books, and “International Korean Picture Book Exhibitions” in collaboration with overseas bookstores and the Korean Cultural Center. Both of these initiatives are about building the strength of our picture books and our culture - and as such, they don’t produce immediate results, but require long and steady efforts. If publishers can help facilitate this, such as connecting with the Cultural Centers abroad and providing opportunities for new authors to meet with readers, a healthy picture book ecosystem will be able to sustain and grow.

 

You have continued to be creative and proactive in the publishing business, contributing to the growth of the publishing market. Please tell us about your future direction, goals, and plans for future titles.

 

With Goraebaetsok’s experience in making picture books and children’s stories, we are preparing picture-essays for adults under the name “Goraein.” We are excited to meet new readers with the new stories we will create. We will continue to imagine, move, and talk with diligence so that our stories can be expanded into various media, such as animation and video, and published in other countries to reach people of different regions and ages.

 

 

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