★Winning the 28th Eye Children's Literature Award for Excellence ★
The Daekyo Eye Children's Literature Award was established to lay the new foundation for children's literature and to discover competent children's literature. In the meantime, several renowned writers have entered the children's literature awards at eye level, and they have played a big role in fattening our children's literature community.
*The only thing that can see 'the land', red eyes
A world that existed as 23 races with different names, but became a land of death due to wars triggered by natural disasters, hunger, plague, and anxiety. There was only hope in this world of chaos and despair, red eyes.
Red eyes are chosen beings. This is because he is the only guide who will take you out of a world full of pain, sadness, and death to the 'land' where everything is. Only those with red eyes could see the way to the 'land' of hope. But no matter how red the eyes are, you have to get three things to get to the land. Water from the bear family, fire from the dragon family, soil from the wolf family. At first glance, the path everyone can take to paradise seems clear. This is because there are red eyes that can see the way to the land, water for the bears, fire for the dragons, and soil for the wolves. If everyone agrees, "the land" may be a place where you can arrive at once. But no one is able to reach it because of the greed to take over the land. In it, red eyes became a prey for those blinded by greed.
Red-eyed Rael is also caught in a hunter's trap and is being dragged somewhere. Rael, who repeatedly runs away because he knows his tragic ending, and Jackel, the knight of the good spirit, enters Rael's red eyes. And Rael, who became a free body with the help of Jacquel, decides to have a dream. I'm not hiding anymore and I'm gonna go find the land with Jacquel. As long as you were born with red eyes, you should head to the land with someone who will dream of a new world together.
*A journey to "the land" as if playing a game.
A world where death spreads like paint spreads on paper and beings stepping back to escape the fear. Although it is a subject that can be heavy as if looking at us living in the world in a pandemic, the story instantly follows the protagonists' journey to the "land."
The reason is because of the unique characters full of imagination. Red eyes are born in only one individual every three years, and live with red eyes for 15 days and black eyes for 15 days. The Knight of the Spirits Jacquel wanders the world to fill his spirits scattered by the war. The size-adjusting reptile rune is rough, but it is warmer and more adventurous than anyone else, adding fun to the story. The bear, dragon, and wolf, which the three companions go through, also use the power of legend to stimulate imagination.
The characters' journey to "the land" is also interesting as they play fantasy games. Following the legend, "The water flows where the head bones of the Bear's guardian deity are placed," "The Dragon's Fire is saved only by those who know the sky," and "The soil of the wolf stays in the blue mouth of the white wolf." Whenever they pass through the gateway, the main characters are asked to choose whether to continue on to the next stage. Like you choose to level up in a game. Every time you pass through one gateway, the intensity and event of the adventure become stronger. In the process, Jackel, the knight of the spirit, fills the spirit with 60% or falls to 30% and faces a crisis. When they pass through all those gates, the main characters meet the greatest message the legend wanted to convey: the highest level, "Hope."
The land you can't see or go without red eyes. A land where everything you want exists. A land full of joy and hope, with pain and sadness gone. There is nothing to wish for in the land. Because everything already exists. In order to get to the land, you have to get water from the ice mountains of the bears. We must save the fire in the dragon's body from the desert of the dragon people. The soil in the wolf's mouth must be saved from the deep mountains of the wolf. Red-eyed Rael, Knight Jackel of the Spirits, and Rune, the storyteller, risk their lives to save them. Rael and his party are trying to get their hands on fire and fire and soil, the source of life that can revive the land of death. Will they be able to succeed? Can you really reach 'the land' if you get your hands on three things?
<Among the words of the judge>
"Rael with Red Eyes" contains an in-depth interpretation of the true power of overcoming despair and a holistic imagination. The land of death in the story is no different from the swamp of despair that humanity is falling into today. Modern civilization, which seemed to make mankind comfortable in the name of development, lost the source of life due to excessive use of carbon fuels. In the ever-expanding haze and garbage piles, life is extinct, land is desertified, sand winds blow, and mankind, who lived a life tailored to their desires, is now groaning due to the COVID pandemic. The story of Rael, Jacquel, and Rune has a strong attraction because it accurately interprets what humanity has to face in this despair and portrays it as a fantasy.
Judge Jin Sun-hee (Professor, Daegu National University of Education)
Judge Jin Sun-hee (Professor, Daegu National University of Education)