Starting the story

What happened while eating a hamburger
What only my eyes can see
A nightmarish day
Grandma's 80th birthday party
I have a new reporting partner!
Between Jiseo and Yeonwoo
If the same thing happens again, it's not a coincidence!
The truth is slowly revealed
Two clues: scent and padding
Is your dad also an invisible man?
Why is the invisible man by Cao Cao's side?
Before we knew it, spring had arrived

Author's Note

The winning work of the 5th Bori <Gaedongi's Playground> Creative Fairy Tale Contest, 《Jojo Can See Special Things》, has been published.
One day, after an uncomfortable meal with his father and his father's lover, Jojo runs away and eats a hamburger alone at a restaurant when he sees a suspicious scene outside the window.
The snow was piling up in the air in the shape of a person, as if falling on the shoulders of an invisible person.
From that day on, Jo Jo, who had been thinking about that scene over and over again, began to investigate it to satisfy his curiosity.
By following Cao Cao's unique perspective, we can come to believe a lot at the end of the story.
Things like 'love', 'hope', 'friendship', and 'courage' are invisible, but they are definitely there. When you look at them with new eyes, a new world unfolds. When winter passes, spring comes.

★Winners of the 5th Bori <Gaedongi's Playground> Creative Story Contest
★Unanimous selection by the judges!
★Highly recommended by children's book author Kim Hye-jeong and bookstore owner Yoo Ji-hyeon!

Even though it is invisible, it can be clearly felt,
A delicate and warm fairy tale about finding what matters most.

Something suspicious keeps appearing nearby,
That's only visible to my eyes!

“Love, hope, friendship, courage, these are all things that cannot be seen, but can certainly be felt.
We support your adventures in search of these precious treasures.”
- From the author's note

“I am a person who knows how to see the invisible, the precious and the special.”
A special report on eleven-year-old Jojo, who can see the invisible.

Have you ever felt eyes on you from behind and turned around? Have you ever seen a dog bark into the empty air, or heard something moving when you were alone? Jojo, the protagonist of "Jojo Can See Special Things," is an eleven-year-old boy who never misses such suspicious signs and keeps a close eye on them.
Sometimes, you know that what you can't see is more important.

One day, after an uncomfortable meal with his father and his father's lover, Jojo runs away and eats a hamburger alone at a restaurant when he sees a suspicious scene outside the window.
The snow was piling up in the air in the shape of a person, as if falling on the shoulders of an invisible person.
From that day on, Jo Jo, who had been thinking about that scene over and over again, began to investigate it to satisfy his curiosity.
Suspected to be an invisible person, it continues to appear around Jo Jo and reveal its presence, and Jo Jo's reporting sometimes encounters difficulties.
Will Cao Cao be able to uncover the identity of the invisible being? Was it truly an invisible man?

“Didn’t you know? Even in those moments when you felt alone and lonely,
“You have never been alone.”
A warm letter to those who are lonely

Jojo's heart, which has not yet fully accepted the absence of his mother, is as cold and lonely as winter.
When my friends talk about their mothers as if it were a given, when adults ask me with puzzlement if I came to the store alone, when my best friend Jiseo seems confident and bold because she received a lot of love from her mother, I suddenly think, "That's right."
Even when Dad only tries to fill Mom's empty spot and is so busy with work that he comes home late at night when Jojo is asleep and doesn't even hold her hand.
Yeon-woo, who grows closer to Jo-jo by sharing secrets with him, also harbors a similar longing.
Living alone with my grandfather, away from my parents, I would talk to myself when I felt lonely and sometimes imagined that there was someone, like an invisible person, by my side.
Like Jojo and Yeonwoo, we too live with the fate of loneliness.
But that doesn't mean I'm just caught up in loneliness.
Even time spent alone can have a magical effect that turns it into a special moment.
Even when Jojo feels like crying, he doesn't miss the moment he loves, when he is exposed to the sunlight with his bare face.
Even after having the worst day ever, I catch a glimpse of a suspicious scene outside my window.
Sometimes, they seek out people who will listen to their stories seriously, and they don't miss out on those who approach them first and offer an umbrella, making them their friends and learning to endure loneliness together.
In this way, winter is a season that clearly shows me that I am not alone.
It's like when you hold hands on a cold day, they feel warm like hand warmers, and when the snow falls, the transparent human form next to you is revealed.
As we turn the pages and follow Cao Cao's unique gaze, we find ourselves believing more and more.
Things like 'love', 'hope', 'friendship', and 'courage' are invisible, but they are definitely by our side. When we look at them with new eyes, a new world unfolds. When winter passes, spring comes.
As we turn the last page, like Jo-jo, who has fully survived the winter of his eleventh year and finally welcomes spring, new buds of hope will begin to sprout in our hearts.

“When you’re not sure whether to do something or not, just try it!”
Courage begins with looking into your heart

《Jojo Can See Special Things》 is a work that won the 5th Bori 《Gaedongi's Playground》 Creative Fairy Tale Contest, and was serialized in the children's magazine 《Gaedongi's Playground》 for 12 months, receiving an enthusiastic response from readers.
It's because we've gained a lot of sympathy by comforting the various hearts we have.
Through the story, the author naturally lets us know that children's minds are always difficult and complex.
Through meticulous and in-depth psychological portrayals of the characters, it gently resonates with readers, allowing them to confront the various emotions within their hearts.

“On the way home after parting ways with Jiseo, Jojo thought that the human mind was truly complicated.
It seemed like even the closest of friends had aspects they didn't know about.
I thought deeply about Jiseo's feelings until I fell asleep.
“About my father’s feelings too.”

In this way, the human mind has many layers.
This applies to both adults and children.
As Jojo uncovers the existence of the invisible man, he begins to unravel the layers of his heart one by one and comes to understand himself and others.
Finding courage also begins with looking into your heart.
It's like Jojo, who didn't try anything new because he hated getting red in the face, got on his skates for the first time and took a step forward after facing his fear.
In this way, Jojo gradually learns to believe in himself and move forward, accepting the process of separation in life and learning the strength to move forward.

Review comments

This is a heartwarming story about Jojo, who misses his mother who has passed away, seeing mysterious things that he thinks are invisible people, and discovering the true identity of the invisible people while learning the importance of friends and family.
It is a unique and fascinating work that makes you wonder about the identity of the invisible man and imagine what it might be like as you read.
The author's spirit of truthfully revealing the invisible stood out, and the author's perspective aligned with the speaker's, increasing immersion.
We chose this work as the winner because it was interesting and well-written, from a child's perspective, about seriously questioning, reasoning, and following a special, invisible world.
- Judges: Lee Ju-young (Children's Culture Association representative), Jang Jeong-hee (Director of Bang Jeong-hwan Research Institute), and Kim Myeong-su (elementary school teacher)