Abstract

"Which is more important, me or your smartphone?"
A gentle, eye-opening picture book by Yuichi Kimura to read together as a parent and child

"I hate you, Mommy!!"
Shouting that, I grabbed Mommy's smartphone.
Even though I had something to tell her.
Even though I desperately wanted her to listen.
She was always, always looking at her smartphone.

On a day when something painful happened at school,
Kumata wanted his mom to listen to him. But his mom was completely absorbed in her phone.
Unable to take it anymore, Kumata ran out of the house and into the snowy forest—

Yuichi Kimura, author of One Stormy Night (Arashi no Yoru ni), and up-and-coming picture book author and illustrator Yui Hayes gently depict the importance of family time, something easily forgotten in our busy daily lives.

A warmth you can only appreciate because of the cold.
A book that makes you want to listen closely to the voice of your loved ones after you finish reading it.

Author’s Information

Yuichi Kimura
Born in Tokyo. Graduated from Tama Art University. Picture book and children's story author. Active across a wide range of fields, including playwriting, comic writing, and novels, with over 1,000 published books both in Japan and abroad. His representative works include the One Stormy Night (Arashi no Yoru ni) series (Kodansha) and the Baby Play Picture Book series (Kaiseisha). He won the 26th Kodansha Publication Culture Award for Picture Books and the 42nd Sankei Children's Book Award JR Prize for One Stormy Night, as well as the 15th Japan Picture Book Award for King Wolf (Ookami no Ousama, Kaiseisha).

Yui Hayes
Born in Tokyo. Graduated from the Department of Oil Painting at Tokyo University of the Arts and completed her master's program at the same university's graduate school. A 16th-term graduate of the Yuyu Picture Book Course. Made her debut as a picture book author after winning the Grand Prize at the 6th Creative Picture Book Contest hosted by Ehonjuku College with Osewa ni Narimashita (Thank You for Everything / Thank You for Taking Care of Me) (Ehonjuku Publishing). Also active as an illustrator and children's art instructor. Her other works include Hikari no Kurisumasu: Sora ni Ichibanboshi ga Kagayaku Toki (Light's Christmas: When the First Star Shines in the Sky) (Art) (Cosmic Publishing).