The 1st Busan International Children's Book Fair Opens on the 28th... Featuring Authors Lee Suji and Baek Heena

Until December 1 at BEXCO

The 1st '2024 Busan International Children's Book Fair' will be held from November 28 to December 1 at BEXCO in Busan.

The Busan International Children's Book Fair is an event that introduces Korean children's books to publishers, authors, children and families who love books, as well as prominent overseas publishers involved in copyright trading. It is hosted by the Korea Publishers Association and supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism and Busan Metropolitan City.

This year, the Busan International Children's Book Fair will feature 193 companies from 16 countries (136 domestic companies and 57 overseas companies), with about 150 events including book exhibitions, lectures and seminars, on-site events, and workshops. There will be 118 authors and speakers attending in person (107 domestic and 11 overseas).

The theme of the 2024 Busan International Children's Book Fair is 'Laputa.' Laputa is an imaginary floating island in the sky that Gulliver visits third in "Gulliver's Travels." It symbolizes creating a joyful space uniquely for children with their boundless imagination and hope.

On the first day of the book fair, novelist Kim Yeon-su and picture book author Kang Hye-sook, who worked on "Gulliver's Travels," will visit and discuss the theme "Gulliver's Laputa." "Gulliver's Travels" was first translated into Korean by Choe Nam-seon, who added missing stories to the original. The story consists of four parts, but Choe translated only the first two parts about the land of the Lilliputians and the land of giants. Kim Yeon-su added the third part, Laputa, and the fourth part, Houyhnhnms, and republished it as "Gulliver's Travels." Illustrations by Kang Hye-sook were also included.

Lee Su-ji, who won the 2022 Hans Christian Andersen Award in the illustrator category, and Baek Hee-na, who received the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, known as the Nobel Prize for children's books, in 2020, will also attend the book fair to share many stories.

During the Busan International Children's Book Fair, a specially curated book exhibition for children will be held on-site. The themed exhibition "Laputa - Doing, Children" will display about 400 books across four categories from various fields, allowing children to contemplate their own Laputa. An experience zone will be created in the exhibition space where children can engage with each category's theme. Additionally, 10 titles selected as the "Most Enjoyable Books in Korea" from the 2024 Seoul International Book Fair's "Best Books in Korea" contest will be exhibited in a separate space.

A "Kids Atelier," a space where children can freely express their thoughts, draw, and create, will also be set up at the book fair. The "Copyright Center," established to introduce Korea's excellent children's publishing copyrights overseas and expand the copyright export market, will host export-import consultation meetings involving domestic and international publishing copyright managers and professional agents.

Admission tickets for the 2024 Busan International Children's Book Fair can be obtained for free through pre-registration on the official website of the Busan International Children's Book Fair until the day before the opening, November 27.