book introduction

What kind of flower am I a seed?

"What kind of seed are you?" is a picture book by Choi Sook-hee, author of "It's okay" and "Me too", which is loved by warm and lovely pictures. We support the seed-like dreams of our children with infinite potential through the story of each insignificant seed blooming its own beautiful flower. The pretty paintings that seem to smell like flowers purify the eyes and minds of those who see them.

Seeds blown away by the wind bloom into dandelions, ugly shriveled seeds bloom into sorghum flowers, and curled seeds bloom into peonies. The figure of a child is drawn next to the seed, and the figure of an adult who has grown up wonderfully and beautifully is drawn next to the flower. Like seeds that take root, grow stems and leaves, and grow little by little, we deliver hope and courage to children who will achieve their own dreams.

Publisher book review

A warm message of encouragement from picture book author Choi Sook-hee to all children in the world.
Flowers of different colors and shapes
A song of hope for children who are like precious seeds!

The sorghum flower that spreads fragrance throughout the village,
The balsam that does not lose in the scorching sunlight or the pouring rain,
A hollyhock that makes anyone smile while looking at each other… … .
What kind of flower am I a seed?

A picture book made by planting seeds and making flowers bloom,
A picture book made with the beauty of our folk paintings
A few years ago, the artist set up a cozy studio in a building built into the hillside. She found an empty piece of land the size of a palm behind the building, so she asked the owner for permission to farm. The owner kindly gave permission, and the artist, like a novice farmer, sowed various seeds greedily. It's to the point where I'm confused about which seeds I planted later on. As time went by, small cotyledons poked out from the spot where the seeds were sown. The sprouts scrambled to stretch their stems and put out their leaves, struggling to find their place in a space the size of a palm. The artist watched the sprouts grow and became anxious about how long it would take for these guys to bloom balsam, morning glory, chaesonghwa, and flower buds.
Seeds sprout, put out leaves, bloom, and bear fruit naturally throughout the four seasons. But if you don't lower your body and look carefully, you won't see it very well. As poet Na Tae-joo sang in his well-known poem, “Flowers,” it is bound to be pretty when you look at it closely and endearing when you look at it for a long time. Now, the artist has come to pay attention to all kinds of flowers, not only the flowers he planted in his palm-sized vegetable garden, but also the small grass flowers scattered in the valley, and colorful flowers such as pansies and chrysanthemums planted in flower beds on the street. Flowers are all different, small flowers, large flowers, simple flowers, splendid flowers, early blooming flowers, late blooming flowers... … Each has very different characteristics. The artist wanted to capture all kinds of flowers that had grown so large in his heart in his picture book. Using the expression technique of our old paintings that I learned while attending a folk painting class two years ago. The expressive technique of our painting was very well suited to express colorful flowers such as peonies and lotuses more splendidly, and to reveal the simple and modest beauty of small and delicate flowers such as dandelions and island flowers.

The story I want to tell all the children of this land,
“You are the seed that bears the flower.”
While preparing a picture book about flowers and seeds, the artist recalled the eyes of his son, who had just become a college student and was about to leave his mother's arms, and the eyes of countless children he met while visiting the library or elementary school. The phrase ‘every child is a seed with infinite potential’ is a metaphor that we are all too familiar with. But we often forget the precious truth in this familiar parable. The artist wanted to remind us of this precious truth once again through lyrics like lyrics and beautiful pictures. In addition, I hoped that we adults would look back on whether we want our children to be the same sleek and handsome seeds or the same colorful flowers that stand out more than others.

We are all born of one seed. Life, which was small, frail, and even shriveled, gradually grows and lives by blooming flowers. Some are weak, some are nasty, and some are late, but each child with a surprisingly different personality blooms into various flowers to enrich the world. There is no flower in the world that is not beautiful. As if all the seeds in the world sing about the beautiful possibilities of the past, the author whispers, and at the end of the book, he ‘declares’ in a slightly firm voice. “Yes, you are a seed too. Seeds with flowers.” And again ask the children. “What kind of flowers would you like to bloom?” It is not a question that forces an answer with grandiose aspirations, but a question that listens to children who are trying to say something with their lips moving in a small voice.

Author: Choi Sook-hee Illustration: Choi Sook-hee Publisher: Reading Bear Publication: May 15, 2013 Number of pages: 40

What seed are you? - Korean version