A girl and her father head toward the center of a lake in a small boat. The moment the child dips her hand into the water, fish gather around, and the boundary between the sky reflected in the lake and the sky above begins to blur, as if an imagined world is unfolding. The child plays with the fish, dances freely, and moves without restraint, appearing to glide through the sky and swim beneath the water in a scene of freedom and peace.
Through the image of a girl who looks at the sky reflected on the lake and imagines herself flying freely like a bird, the artist shows us where our gaze might come to rest. Until the very end of the book, readers would never imagine that the child uses a wheelchair. Only after the boat completes its quiet journey around the lake do we come to realize this. Imagination and moments of peace are bound by no limitations—and they are what set us free.
This is a story that invites many questions. Using poster color to create striking visual imagery, artist Shin Hye-jin tells the story entirely through images, without words. With richly layered, full-page illustrations and a painting technique reminiscent of photographic realism, she crafts a narrative that is both vivid and firmly grounded.