Four Seasons Picture Book Award, supporting picture book creators

For over 20 years, Sageseul Publishing has been discovering and publishing excellent picture books, from children's picture books to picture books for adults, both domestically and internationally.
Including the steady seller “Who Pooped on My Head?”, we have published the “Peace Picture Book” series as a joint project between Korea, China, and Japan with the hope that children will live in a peaceful world without war. In addition to consistently publishing original picture books with excellent artistry and a variety of projects tailored to the trends of the times and children’s eye level, we have also focused on the artistry and expandability of picture books early on and have created the “Dear Picture Book” series.

And in 2020, we established the Four Seasons Picture Book Award to support picture book creators and to look forward to new picture books.
A total of 299 works were submitted to the first Four Seasons Picture Book Contest.
Overall, there were many works that featured personal, intimate narratives rather than grand narratives with a solid worldview, and utilized unique techniques.
Judges Seo Hyun, Song Mi-kyung, and Lee Ji-eun selected seven finalists through preliminary and final judging, and held the final judging.
After a heated discussion, Kim Ji-young's "My Heart ㅅㅅㅎ" was selected as the grand prize winner, with the comment that "the work has a high degree of perfection and is a work that allows children and adults to read together and enrich their picture book experience."



“What have you done to my heart?”

A child's heart is as colorful as a rainbow
A picture book that covers hearts, letters, and faces

"My Heart ㅅㅅㅎ" is a picture book that follows the changes in a child's heart that occur one day.
The child looks deeply into his own mind and expresses it.
When you express your feelings, letters appear, and the letters naturally bring to mind the child's face and expressions.
What could have happened to the child? Even if nothing had happened, isn't the mind inherently fickle and unpredictable?
Author Kim Ji-young presents a clear portrait of a child with novel ideas and structure.
Inspired by the shape of the eyebrows and ears of a child's face, the image of the letter 'ㅅㅅㅎ' was conceived and composed so that readers can encounter the various feelings and faces of a child going about an ordinary day.
The child's heart, which changes even with small and trivial things, is expressed in letters, and the letters are layered on the child's face.
The child who said that even his favorite ice cream and toys had become boring is slowly opening up his heart as he expresses his confusing feelings.


'My heart ㅅㅅㅎ' game
Fresh colors and simple visualization

In "My Heart ㅅㅅㅎ," the story unfolds as you guess the mysterious heart one by one, as if playing a fun word game.
The process of children finding the word in their mind using the consonants ㅅㅅㅎ is an interesting game that anyone can easily do, like an initial consonant quiz.
Children can express their emotions by freely forming words while recalling the vowels of the Korean alphabet.
It will help children feel and express a wide range of emotions.

Above all, this picture book stands out for its refreshing colors.
By using the two main colors of pink and blue, we realistically depicted the everyday lives of children and concisely visualized the letters to draw attention to the voices of children.
Children start out talking quietly to themselves, but as they express their feelings, they start speaking loudly and confidently.
Listening to the voices of children who, after playing alone, discover the joy of playing together brings a warm feeling.


A great book for children and adults to read and converse with.

Author Kim Ji-young found inspiration for her work while raising two children.
I designed this picture book based on my experiences with children going through the "childhood puberty" period, a time when children become more independent and assert themselves.
The book captures the importance of children being able to fully express their feelings and of parents and children having conversations.
We hope that children and adults will enjoy reading picture books together, sharing their hearts with one another.