The best summer picture books to hit the summer hard
The taste of summer, the ice-cold 『Ho-raeng-myeon』 is out now!

Kim Ji-an, a picture book author who has captivated both children and adult readers with cute characters and witty humor featuring small animals such as the squirrel in "Chestnut Picnic" (2017), the cat in "Summer Fishing" (2018), and the wild mouse in "Tulip Hotel" (2022), now embarks on a new adventure with nine-year-old children from a long, long time ago, when people ate tiger naengmyeon (cold noodles with cold noodles) as the main characters.
Author Kim Ji-an's new work, "Ho-raeng-myeon" (Media Changbi 2023), is a picture book that depicts the commotion that ensues as three children set out to find legendary ice that will cool them off in the midsummer heat, set against the backdrop of traditional Korean houses, hanbok, and beautiful landscapes.

It will blow away the sweltering heat in an instant.
What is the delicious secret of Gubeom Falls?

One summer day, when it was so hot that the crayfish in the stream turned red, three friends of the same age, Kim Nang-ja, Lee Do-ryeong, and Park Do-ryeong, headed to Gubeom Falls in search of mysterious ice.
After crossing a winding river and climbing a sharp mountain, the children walk for a long time to save a cat in danger and, guided by the cat, arrive at the legendary Gubeom Falls.
And just as they were enjoying the delicious cold noodles while looking at the cold noodle waterfall filled with chewy noodles in a cool broth with floating ice cubes spread out before their eyes and the mysterious ice they discovered soon after, a tiger as big as a house, the owner of the cold noodles, appears, and the three children realize that the cold noodles they were happily slurping down were none other than tiger cold noodles, or 'horaengmyeon'.

At a critical moment when the tiger is furious at the three children who touched the tiger noodles and is threatening to eat them all, the cat that was saved from the cliff appears and blocks the tiger's path.
The cat that had been lingering around the three children since the village was actually not a cat at all, but the youngest of a tiger's eight children! After clearing up the tiger's misunderstanding and borrowing the mysterious tiger ice, the three children safely returned to the village. They prepared a feast of cold noodles, enough to make them forget the sweltering heat, and shared it with the villagers, exhausted from the long heat.


A new legend to cool down the summer heat
"Tiger and Cold Noodles" is like listening to a traditional fairy tale.

In this work, picture book author Ji-an Kim travels back in time to a traditional space with thatched roofs and tiled stone walls, unraveling a bundle of old stories reinterpreted in a modern way.
The tiger, a representative Korean spiritual creature, and the moral of the saying, “Good deeds bring good fortune,” and the narration, which unfolds as if listening to an old story while lying on a grandmother’s lap, are reminiscent of traditional fairy tales.
However, the author's signature cute and lovable characters, sophisticated cut divisions, and lively and dynamic plot make even today's young readers willingly join the three children's refreshing adventures.
Let's meet a new legend that will cool down the heat of a hot summer day with the summer picture book 『Ho-raeng-myeon』, which is based on the representative food that comes to mind when thinking of summer, 'Naengmyeon'.

Praise from 300 Reviewers of the "Ho-Raeng-Myeon" Dictionary

“Refreshing and exhilarating until the very end!” _ so***

“The beginning of the legend of a tiger that overcomes the heat!” _ ji***

“What is this book? It’s so interesting.
“Awesome” _ jm***

“A cool, cheerful, and fun picture book!
“I plan to spread it out and cool off whenever the heat gets too intense.” _ oc***

“Another masterpiece that I will be able to enjoy again and again during the summer has been born!” _ vivi***

“Just looking at the picture makes me feel refreshed.”_ lo****

“Enjoy a bowl of refreshing ho-raeng-myeon this summer!”_ oc***

“Just imagining it makes me feel the cool cold noodles in my throat!”_ zz***

“It seems like I can hear the characters’ voices expressed in a cute way.”

“Witty onomatopoeia enhances the story,
“It makes you focus more on the pictures and the narrative.”

“The blue book that opens the beginning of an adventure is set in a hot summer background.
It focuses attention and exudes a sense of refreshment,
The expression of blue, which is connected to blue flowers, blue sky, etc.
“Visualizing coolness against a midsummer background.” _ xx***