“Welcome, today’s child.
“Can you help us?”
Kim Dong-su's new work, "Today's To-Do," stands out with its unique ecological sensibility.

A new work by Kim Dong-su, a representative Korean picture book author, 『Today's To-Do』 has been published.
This is the first new picture book in eight years by Kim Dong-su, a beloved author with pure imagination resembling the inner world of children.
In the meantime, the author has presented stories that cherish the small and fragile lives around us, including the image of a child planting feathers one by one on ducks that were cold after being plucked out (『The Day I Caught a Cold』) and the process of mourning by carefully burying animals that were hit by a car and died (『Goodbye, Goodbye』).


"Today's To-Do" continues the author's unique perspective of capturing the vitality of nature, unfolding a fantastical world of water ghosts with even more cheerful imagination.
The expression of nature's silent self-purification process, likened to a water spirit, is excellent, and underlying the lively story flows a thoughtful thought that considers the peaceful coexistence of humans and nature.


“Sometimes I go for a walk with my child along the river near our house.
The child diligently scoops up various objects floating on the flowing water with a single stick.
When I watch a child squatting and concentrating without realizing the passage of time, I often feel as if he or she is communicating with another world that exists somewhere underwater.
“I send a tree branch called a picture book to children who can communicate with all things in the world without walls.” The author’s words

A unique perspective on today's environment

The underwater world is always busy due to increasingly serious environmental pollution.
Water spirits inhale polluted water and purify it into clean water.
The day goes by quickly with the work of caring for babies and children.
As the environment worsens and workers become scarce, the water spirits decide to bring in a short-haired boy who gazes intently into the river as a worker.
What kind of day will the child invited to the world of water ghosts have?

"Today's To-Do" is a special picture book that showcases the author's unique imagination in creating a world of water ghosts.
The sight of a 'ghost', which symbolizes death, saving the human world paradoxically makes us feel that life and death are intertwined.
It is also impressive that it is not the water spirit's transcendent powers but its long hair that plays a role in reviving the environment.
The water spirits, who rub their bodies against each other as if performing acrobatics, inhale the polluted water, purify it within their bodies, and then pour out clean water through the tips of their hair.
To build up hair strength, I also do strength training, such as handstands and lifting dumbbells with my hair.
The water ghost's extraordinary daily life wittily shows the warning nature sends to humans as it struggles to purify itself every day.
The way adult water ghosts feed baby water ghosts the cleanest water and the way child water ghosts enjoy playing together resembles the human world.
"Today's To-Do" makes us think about what we must do today, as we live in an era of environmental crisis and care for one another.


A precious attitude toward caring for life

The protagonist is a child who likes to observe everything, no matter how small it may be.
One day, while he was pulling out trash from the river, he was chosen by a water ghost to be its new worker and entered the underwater world.
Even though it is the first time he has encountered this landscape, the protagonist spends time leisurely feeding the baby water ghosts, putting them to sleep, and playing with them.
You can watch the training of the water spirits who create clear water, and also receive education together with the child water spirits who will become water spirits in the future.
Children who diligently complete the tasks assigned to them throughout the day receive a bouquet of water droplets as a gift.
It's a gift that will disappear when it comes out on land, but there's something in the child's expression as he powerfully crosses the stepping stones at the end that will never disappear.

"Today's To-Do" lovingly depicts children interacting with water spirits.
The sight of the water ghosts bowing down to the child's eye level and giving a warm greeting, and the attitude of the child water ghosts giving a hug of gratitude and regret when saying goodbye to the child are correct.
With its witty imagination, powerful thematic awareness, and exciting adventure story, the book is expected to be widely read in today's vibrant debate on the environment and care.


We invite you to a mysterious and blue world.
A refreshing picture that stirs the heart

The pleasure of appreciating artist Kim Dong-su's neat and beautiful paintings cannot be missed.
The artist worked with mixed media including ink, gouache, watercolors, and watercolor pencils.
Each character was drawn separately, cut out with scissors, and then pasted onto colored paper in the appropriate places to carefully complete each scene.
The emotion that the color blue gives, which seems cool yet warm, is also mysterious.
After reading "Today's To-Do," your mind will be filled with a deep and expansive world of imagination.