The thorn boy has something he really wants to say.
But no one listens
Will you listen when the thorns are gone?

Curriculum
Elementary school 1st grade, 2nd semester, Korean language 10.
Imagine the character's words and actions
Elementary school 2nd grade, 1st semester, Korean language 3.
Share your heart

● The happy growth of the thorn boys
The first sentence of “The Thorn Boy” begins with the self-defense, “I am full of thorns.”
It's natural for them to speak sharply and shout because they are full of thorns.
It can be said that this is still the expression of a child who is not able to properly express his or her feelings and is still standing still.
The truth is, they want to be noticed and socialized, but they don't know how to express it, so they yell and act rough.

Fortunately, the child soon realizes that his words and actions are incorrect.
You experience loneliness and sadness due to the thorns you have raised.
At this point, the child wonders if it would be a good idea to remove the thorn.
And take courage.
It is never easy to make a decision, and through execution, a child shows growth.
I can only imagine how happy the child's life will be just by looking at his bright smile.

The Thorn Boy does not embellish the story.
I approach young readers by saying, "I've had times like this. Haven't you ever had times like this?"
And let the children reflect on their own actions and feelings.
Children can relate to The Boy with the Thorn and learn how to behave in a way that makes them happy.

● A sentence that empathizes with the inner feelings of a wounded child
The text of "The Thorn Boy" is short.
It's short, about one line per scene.
This is an effort to capture the inner self of a prickly child in sentences.

Think of a hurt and angry child.
I just feel angry and frustrated.
I'm just crouching alone, isolated.
Don't chatter too much.
Even if someone approaches and asks a friendly question, he either remains silent and keeps his mouth shut, or gives a short answer in a husky voice.
The wounded heart of such a child is fully expressed in short, rough sentences.
And, strangely enough, the sentences in “The Thorn Boy” do not have periods.
This was intentionally omitted by the author, as he was reluctant to allow the rough and angry mind of the child to be calmly refined by the period.
“The Boy with the Thorns” conveys the feelings of a wounded child through words and sentences.


● Illustrations that further expand the book's story
"The Thorn Boy" tells the story of a boy who defends his anxious mind with thorny expressions.
Since it is a heavy subject, if the pictures are colorful and bright, it will make the story lighter, but if you use simple and dark colors, the story can become infinitely heavy.
When you look at the painting “The Thorn Boy” while thinking about how to express the precarious boundary, you can see how well it is composed.

The image of a child growing thorns every day is compared to a cactus, which effectively shows that the thorns in the child's heart continue to grow, just like a cactus that grows back even when cut.
Also, each scene uses patterns appropriately to avoid looking cluttered or empty.

Above all, in the scene where everyone has thorns, unlike the child who showed his thorns on the outside, the thorns of people were expressed as shadows.
This conveys the idea that everyone has thorns, but also expresses the distinction that some children have thorns that can be hidden inside, unlike others who show them on the outside.
Finally, the thorn boy goes to the dentist and has the thorn in his mouth removed.
There are so many thorns on my body, so why did I go to the dentist first?
It could be an expression of the intersection of physical and mental development of a person growing one step at a time through this grind, or it could be an emphasis on the fact that when one gets angry, the first thing one does is speak harshly.
"The Thorn Boy" is a picture book with many different interpretations of the illustrations, giving it a lot to talk about.