A giraffe with a short neck?
Bullying is still a social problem.
'Wangtta' is a vulgar word for 'ostracism'.
Bullying in our society is becoming a bigger social problem as it becomes ‘group bullying.’
Not long ago, bullying within a famous idol group became an issue.
There are many reasons for bullying, such as being short, fat, having a different skin color, not being good at studying, or having a disability.
Is this really the right thing to do?
Maeng and Aeng's seventeenth picture book, "Jippi the Short-Necked Giraffe," is a story that compares bullying that our children have experienced or may experience to the animal world.
Have you ever thought about a giraffe with a short neck? The main character in this picture book is none other than Zippy, a giraffe with a short neck.

Miya, Africa's most magnificent giraffe, has given birth to a baby.
All the animals in the meadow were happy.
But the baby giraffe had a short neck.


“This is a curse from the god of the prairie, no, from the devil.”
“A giraffe with a short neck can’t survive in this grassland.”
“How do you eat the grass that grows high up?”
“How do you see the enemy coming from afar?”

The animals' joy turned to sighs.
Jipi grew up well under the loving care of his mother, Miya, but was bullied in the meadow.


“I hate you because you have a short neck.
“Go away!”
“My mom told me not to play with you.
“They say it’s different from ours.”
“You are useless.”

Every time she saw such a thing, her mother, Giraffe Miya, felt so sad.
But Miya trusts Zippy.


“Gipiya.
It's true that you have a short neck.
But the god of the meadow must have thoughts too.
“There must be a reason why you were born this way.”

Yes, that's right.
As Miya said, everything born into this world has its own role and reason.
Even the smallest creatures live faithfully, fulfilling their roles.
Even earthworms, which we consider insignificant, are essential to this world.

Maeng and Aeng's picture book, "Jippi, the Short-Necked Giraffe," is a picture book that teaches us that being different from others does not mean we are wrong.
This is a picture book that reminds us of the preciousness of all things in the world and how to live together with them.


Eyes that discover precious things
Have you heard of Stephen Hawking? He's a great physicist who's been confined to a wheelchair since he was twenty-one due to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.
The secrets of the universe are being revealed one by one in his mind.

Do you know Helen Keller? She was blind and deaf, yet she lived a life of great authorship and educator.
Helen Keller was also an activist who fought for the abolition of racial discrimination and workers' rights with her love for people.

Do you know Rosa Parks? In the 1950s, white and black people weren't allowed to sit together on buses or park benches.
There were separate compartments for blacks and whites on the bus.
Rosa Parks, who was sitting in the front seat of the white section because the back seat, which was for blacks only, was full, did not listen to the driver's instructions to move to the black section.
Eventually, Rosa Parks is arrested on the basis of the article's accusation.
However, Rosa Parks sparked a movement to abolish racial discrimination, leaving a significant mark on the history of black people's struggle for human rights and freedom.

Stephen Hawking, Helen Keller, and Rosa Parks are not like us.
Stephen Hawking, who was physically disabled, Helen Keller, who was deaf and blind, Rosa Parks, who had dark skin, they are all wonderful people with small differences from us.
Because although we are different, we can use our individual strengths to help many people.
Because he was different, but he wasn't wrong.

Let's look around us for people who are different from us. There are countless people who are different from us: a child who struggles academically, a child whose mother is a foreigner, a child with polio and a disability, a child who is short, a child who stutters.
Have you ever bullied or ostracized someone for being different from you? Have you ever teased a friend by pointing out their weaknesses?
In the picture book “Zippy the Short-Necked Giraffe,” Zippy the short-necked giraffe lives happily with other animals, including “an elephant without a trunk, a slender hippopotamus, a bird without a beak, a slow cheetah, a crocodile without a tail, and a zebra without patterns.”
What happened?
A hunter comes into the forest and starts to catch the giraffes in the forest.
But the giraffes couldn't figure out how the hunters were capturing the animals.
But then a short-necked zippo spots the hunter and catches him.
Peace came to the forest because of Zippy's short neck, which everyone used to tease about.
All the animals are so grateful to Zippy for saving them from danger from the hunters.
Everyone will regret teasing and bullying Jiphy.

And then everyone realizes.
The point is that although Gifie is different from other giraffes, that doesn't mean she's wrong.
Another thing about the GP is that you'll also learn that a short neck can be an advantage.
All the animals in the forest have new eyes to see what is precious.

Reading the picture book "Giraffe Jipi with a Short Neck" will help you understand how happy life can be when people live together.
We can also see that a kind heart that does not exclude a friend because of his or her shortcomings creates happiness for everyone.


Mr. Goh Jeong-wook
The author of this picture book, Mr. Goh Jeong-wook, is also disabled.
I am a grade 1 disabled person and cannot move without using a wheelchair.
While attending school, Mr. Goh Jeong-wook also had many difficulties due to the harsh gaze of those around him.

It is said that whenever the grandmother saw the young Mr. Goh Jeong-wook, she would repeat to herself, “He should learn something like fixing watches or selling seals so that he can make a good living...”
Because in the past, there weren't many things that people with disabilities could do.

If you read Mr. Goh Jeong-wook's masterpiece, "The Boy Who Carries Bags," you will see that the feelings he personally felt are well depicted.
Perhaps the inconvenient Yeong-taek in this work is none other than the writer Go Jeong-wook, and Seok-woo, who is made to carry Yeong-taek's bag every day as punishment for teasing him, may be an old friend of the writer Go Jeong-wook.

Mr. Goh Jeong-wook, who had a disabled leg, wrote more diligently than others and became a famous writer.
Just as the short-necked giraffe proudly proclaims, “In the grasslands, there are giraffes with short necks like me,” Mr. Goh Jeong-wook proclaims to the world, “If there is anyone who writes as well as I do, come and see me.”

The picture book “Giraffe Jipi with a Short Neck” contains the heart of teacher Goh Jeong-uk.
The teachings of Professor Goh Jeong-wook, “Just because someone is a little different from me doesn’t mean they’re wrong,” and therefore “we shouldn’t hate them,” are conveyed in moving language.


The illustrations in this book were created by Jaehyun Park, who gives a fresh interpretation of the text through moving illustrations.