We came across the famous Korean children's book author Baek Heena's new book "An odd mama" ("En märklig mamma") at this year's Göteborg Book Fair. Baek Heena is one of our favorite artists & children's book authors, who has a very distinctive style of character making and storytelling.
With her background of animation making, she creates her characters using the craft of "Sculpey" that several of the characters are produced according to their major facial expressions. She also makes the sets for stories herself and develops her unique world of artwork, which interestingly combines craft by hand and animation elements.
The fairy image has appeared in other Baek Heena's books such as "The bath fairy". She may initially seem intimidating but ultimately reveals a warm, helpful, and funny character. The book leaves you with a big smile and warmth in heart. The storytelling is intimate and charming, in a setting of everyday's ordinary life, that you can't help but want to return to again and again.
The ongoing popularity of Korean contemporary culture in art, design, literature (Korean author Han Kang has been awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature), music, and film has gotten a lot of attention, and we are looking forward to introducing morel Korean children's book creators to you. :)
