Author's Note

For most of us, it's the first thing we open our eyes when we wake up in the morning.

And I stare at something all day long until I close my eyes.

What do we watch all day?
Wouldn't it be nice to take a moment to look at a piece of beauty shining somewhere in our lives?

Just looking at the blue sky makes me feel good.

But there are times when those pieces of blue sky hide in our daily lives and speak to us.

The sky we saw then was not the sky we always looked at.
"Piece of Sky" presents a unique form of the piece of sky that everyone has encountered at least once.

As you turn the pages of the book, the fragments of blue sky in everyday life begin to resemble René Magritte's paintings.

A surreal piece of sky that you encounter while looking at a piece of sky in reality.
I invite you into the flow of that gaze.

“The sky is not just in the sky.”
About the beauty that cannot be seen before ‘seeing’…

“It’s a refreshing morning.” The blue sky, peeking out from between the gray apartments, greets the child affectionately.
But the child, excited about going out to play with his father, has no time to look at the sky outside the window.
As I follow the child who goes out to play with his father, the sky keeps talking to me.
I watch my child through the gaps between bridges, buildings, and trees, waiting for the time to be together.

And finally, the moment when the child's feet stopped in front of a round puddle of water.
“Wow, the sky is on the ground.” The blue sky and the child face each other, and the shining sky is captured in the child’s eyes.
“Dad, look at this.
“What is this?” the child asked, curling his tiny fingers toward the sky.
“This is the sky I created.” The new piece of sky born in the child’s hands flew high into the sky.

From the moment we open our eyes in the morning until we fall asleep at night, we spend the whole day looking at something.
How much do we miss the beauty that lies right beside us, yet eludes us until we pay attention? In the picture book "Sky Pieces," the blue pieces, evoking towering mountains, deep tunnels, and a large xylophone, pique our curiosity. Turning the page reveals them to be "sky," formed by the surrounding nature, buildings, and objects.
Readers will have a wonderful experience imagining and enjoying themselves as if playing hide-and-seek with the sky.
Come experience the beauty of 'Sky Piece' with a slightly different perspective, a different perspective than usual.

Bologna Illustrator of the Year,
A world of limitless imagination and perception unfolded by Lee Soon-ok!

Artist Lee Soon-ok, who was selected as 'Illustrator of the Year' at the 2017 and 2018 Bologna Children's Book Fair and has been consistently active in her work, asks us the question of what it means to 'see' through her picture book 'A Piece of Sky.'
For many, the sky, which existed merely as a vast background, appears in various forms that transcend reality, blending with the people and objects around us.
These images of the sky are an homage to the painting “The Wrong Mirror” by surrealist artist René Magritte.
“The Wrong Mirror,” which captures a close-up of one eye and the image of a cloudy sky projected over the cornea, is a work that shows a new meaning of ‘seeing’ by capturing the image of a mirror that indirectly shows objects by reflecting them to the eye that looks at them directly.
『Sky Piece』 is similar to 『False Mirror』 in that it deeply considers the act of ‘seeing,’ but it also offers a new and enjoyable experience in that it expresses the joy of discovering new aspects in the sky.

The picture book 『A Piece of Sky』 is the final work in the ‘Perception’ picture book trilogy by author Lee Soon-ok, including 『Pig Inside a Pig』 (2016) and 『Red』 (2017).
All three works focus on the question, "How do we perceive?", but each work has a different theme: "Pig Inside a Pig" focuses on relative perception, "Red" on perceiving color through feeling, and "Piece of Sky" on how perception changes depending on how one looks at it, and they tell stories about thoughts and questions about different perceptions.
Why not consider what kind of perspective and perception you have with the definitive picture book, "A Piece of Sky," filled with a world of boundless imagination and perception presented by author Lee Soon-ok?