A shining outing for fireflies, puppies, and deer!
A duet of light and darkness heard through the voices of creatures in the darkness

When you open the book, you see a puppy running excitedly into a dark forest at sunset.
Just as he is startled by the sudden deepening darkness, the firefly speaks to the puppy Barley with its light.

When everything suddenly becomes dark
I will appear.

Some things are better seen in the dark.
I'll send a shining signal.
So that you can find me.

Lost, Barley follows the fireflies deep into the dark forest.
The firefly's light thus guides the reader into the darkness.
But fireflies aren't the only ones with voices.
The narrator of the book is a firefly, but fireflies are also a medium of communication that hears the voices of other living creatures and responds with light.
The scene where the deer and the puppy say, “Let’s play together” and “Where are you from?” may seem like they are asking each other questions at first glance, but the reader will realize that they are actually talking to the firefly when they open the next page.
Fireflies show their friends and readers the past, when they had to wait endlessly through the stages of egg, larva, and pupa, through the diamond-shaped light.

I am a small egg without a name,
It was a small caterpillar.

It became a solid pupa
It was still nothing.

After the firefly's splendid dance ends, the puppy, now alone again, asks the firefly, who is also left alone, "Where should we go now?"
Then another voice is heard from afar.
“Barley.” Only then do the readers realize the name of the puppy, whose true form was hidden in the darkness.
Barley begins to run, following the voice and the light in her heart that she has turned on herself.
And where the color has disappeared, the puppy's true form, which could not be seen in the darkness, is finally revealed under the streetlight that just happened to be turned on.
Bori, a small brown puppy, is reunited with his family and held in their arms.
The author talks about 'our psychological resource', that is, 'hope', through barley, fireflies, and forest animals following the light.
It is not a giant torch that fills the empty darkness.
Even a single light as small as a firefly's light is enough.
Moreover, if it is the light of the heart that is turned on from within, not from an external light, it will never be easily extinguished or disappear.

The darker the darkness, the brighter the light
A jewel-like painting that even visualizes the flicker of light

There are already many picture books about fireflies, but the fireflies in this book are special.
This book features three types of fireflies: the Unmunsan firefly, the late firefly, and the child firefly.
To illustrate this book, author Lee Jang-mi collected all the visual data that could bring out the characteristics of the three species of fireflies, including their eggs, larvae, and even adults, and depicted them in her drawings.
It is not a simple imitation of a firefly, but an artistic depiction that contains the author's vision.
Fireflies have different light colors and blinking patterns depending on the species, and the author took on the challenge of visualizing light to capture these changes within the still scenes of the picture book.
The light of the late firefly, which does not blink and lasts a long time, is expressed differently with yellow dots and lines, the light of the early firefly, which blinks a soft light without any regular pattern, is expressed differently with light green dots and diamond shapes, and the light of the Unmunsan firefly, which blinks the brightest and 60 to 120 times per minute, is expressed differently with light green and yellow dots and jewel-like diamond shapes.


The three types of firefly lights are displayed differently in each scene, colorfully illuminating the dark forest.
In the first part, where the puppy Bori wanders through the dark forest, the fireflies of Unmunsan Mountain lead the readers like a guide.
When they reach the middle of the forest, the late fireflies and the Unmunsan fireflies dance together, and the lights of the fireflies fill the screen beautifully like starlight. Beneath them, Bori forgets for a moment that he is lost and watches the fireflies and his new friend, the deer.
But when the firefly dance ends and everyone returns home, Bori is left alone again.
At that time, there was a firefly next to Barley.
The two muster up their courage and set out together to find new light.

Author's Note

While writing this book, I became friends with fireflies.
Fireflies spend most of their lives underground in the darkness.
But once summer arrives, it glows and soars through the darkness.
Night comes to everyone.
The light probably seems far away.
But I believe that the darker the darkness, the brighter the light will be.
Whenever your heart feels dark, remember the fireflies' shining outing.
Choi Eun-young

Before I came across the text in this book, I didn't know much about fireflies.
I was amazed as I followed the life cycle of this little insect.
Fireflies engage in courtship conversations, asking for and responding to permission through their flash signals.
But to humans, it is like a star or a jewel.
I hope that the environment where we can see the quiet love signals of fireflies continues for a long time.
Lee Jang-mi