Iwona Chmielewska's imaginative picture books
A picture book that uses the surrounding circumstances, one's own experiences, and the ideas in one's head to create all kinds of situations and develop a three-dimensional imagination.
The content is incredibly concise and simple, and it's full of joy.


Oh no! This is a big problem.
I was momentarily distracted while ironing, and I ended up leaving a huge stain on my mom's favorite tablecloth.

The first volume of imaginative picture books by Iwona Chmielewska, a Polish writer active in Korea.

While ironing, I was distracted for a moment, and when a stain appeared on the tablecloth, I worried and tried various solutions, and this was depicted in a simple drawing.


My mother's most treasured tablecloth, embroidered by my grandmother, suddenly got an iron stain.

What should I do? Is there no way? My desire to remove the stain before my eyes creates all sorts of situations along the triangular iron marks...

No matter how strong a person may be, he would be unable to withstand such a sudden and great calamity, like a rocket falling from the sky.
Even the most expensive detergent won't remove it, and neither the wise advice of an owl nor the methods found on the Internet will work.
Praying won't work.
No matter how much I think about it, I can't come up with a plausible solution.

Should I say my younger brother did it, or should I say my grandfather did it?
Should I hide somewhere no one knows? Deep underground, or even to the ends of the earth?
But there's nowhere to go, and it's so obvious it's my fault.

Now, there is no other way than to confess your mistakes and ask for forgiveness.
Finally, Mom saw the tablecloth.
But then my mom turned on the iron… … .


The ironing triangle marks keep changing as the child worries, concerns, and excuses go on.
A falling rocket bomb becomes a strong man's inverted triangle torso, a detergent bottle, an internet mouse, a church building, a grandfather's pipe, a fenced birdcage, a mother's eyes...
Beyond associating objects with iron marks, the three-dimensional imagination that creates situations unfolds through short sentences and incredibly concise drawings.


There are also scenes that you have to see several times to finally nod your head, like the scene where someone gives flowers and asks for forgiveness.
The content is simple, but within it, all kinds of situations unfold, like the chair in front of me, the windy window, or a shovel digging deep into the ground.
The situation can be as mundane as searching the Internet or using laundry detergent, as abstract as recalling a mistake revealed under a bright light, or as extraordinary as running away on a boat.
So, the imagination of “There’s a Problem” is a special imagination in which associations, metaphors, and ideas branch out in many directions.
Another thing, moms who blow away all their worries and concerns at once are really cool.