There was something I wanted to hear

“I had a hard time doing it alone.
"I've been too busy, haven't I? Let's hang out together more often." The young child faces an alleyway too long for him to walk alone.
This is a scene from author Eugene's new picture book, "Words I Want to Hear."
What would a child think? “You can do it.
If you tell your child something like, "Even if you're scared, hold on, and take one step at a time," will he or she be able to bravely overcome the obstacles? How many of the words you heard from your parents as a child were truly welcome? Could the reason I'm not fulfilled now be because I never got to hear everything I wanted to hear from my parents? Eugene's new picture book, "Words I Want to Hear," which depicts the words she wanted to hear from her late father, seeps into the reader's heart, making them recall the words they heard and the words they longed to hear.


Picture books for clumsy adults

The first book in the Together Picture Book series, which covers children from 0 to 100 years old, is the new picture book "Words I Want to Hear," by Eugene, which lyrically depicts the love between parents and children growing together.
This is a heart-warming piece that makes you reflect on yourself and your family, thinking about the words you really wanted to hear from someone but couldn't, and the words you wanted to tell them but couldn't, with the theme of 'Words I wanted to hear from my father, and now words I want to tell my child.'


Children who always want to be together, children who hesitate about whether they can do what they want, children who are confident that they can do anything, children who face fear, children who quietly open their mouths because they want to hear something. Perhaps these children who have not yet grown up are the author himself and us who read the book.
The father who is answering may also be the author himself and us.
The words that the author writes with an honest heart comfort the author and make him promise to himself as much as he empties himself.
Now is the time to tell the children of today what they want to hear.


The reason it's important to read aloud when learning a new language is because words you hear out loud in your own voice are easier to understand when spoken by someone else.
Have you ever felt frustrated, thinking, "Among the countless words your parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, teachers, and friends say, there's not a single word I really want to hear!"? Just like when you first learn a foreign language, let's start by saying out loud, little by little, what you want to hear.
It will come back as even greater comfort to those who, like me, needed to hear those words.


Add your own words to the 41-color story "Words I Want to Hear"

Eugene, who has written and illustrated stories about family love, has written a new picture book called "Words I Want to Hear," a work that evokes empathy from readers as each chapter features a father's response to a child's words.
The forty-one fathers' answers, following the five children's voices, are simple but leave a deep impression.
“Okay, throw it.
"Watch the ball until the end." "Is there something you want to learn? Don't worry, just be honest." "What do you want to be? It's okay if you don't know right now.
“Think slowly.” The father’s heart, wanting to teach his children many things with the hope of supporting their future, is fully conveyed to the reader.
Author Eugene, who has received positive responses overseas with picture books such as “It’s the Same,” “How to Eat Fun,” “Drawing Detectives,” and “Dad Went to the Pool,” has written “Words I Want to Hear,” which brings out the answer of a forty-second father and the reader’s story through warm stories and illustrations that span generations and regions.
I hope this will be a time to look at the book and think together about what kind of stories I would tell my child and what my child really wants to hear.