[Kim Heeyoon's Bookshelf] History Remembers the Bear, But Children Notice the Garlic

A Picture Book That Brings the Smallest Supporting Character of the Dangun Myth to Center Stage: "Oh! Garlic"

Rediscovering a Familiar Legend Through a Child's Simple Question

There are elders among garlic cloves too. At least, that's the case in this book. Some cloves sport bushy, graying beards, while others have dramatically raised eyebrows. Each one is a single piece of garlic. When a large, six-segment garlic bulb splits open with a "snap!", six elders appear. For a child, this scene may capture their attention even before they remember Dangun.

Written by Lee Geunhyeong and illustrated by Lee Soohyun, "Oh! Garlic" inserts a small question into the Dangun myth—one we all know so well that we rarely give it much thought. The myth says a bear and a tiger ate garlic, but what were those garlic cloves doing all this time?

When you ask this question, even the landscape of the legend begins to shift. While Hwanung descends from the heavens, the garlic community on earth is bustling with activity. Upon hearing the news that a bear and a tiger have taken the challenge to become Hwanung’s bride, the garlic village is in an uproar, and the elders gather to hold a meeting, displaying the candidates' faces for review.

The tiger is a notorious figure with a history of wrecking garlic fields. The bear, by comparison, is far more gentle. Now, it's up to the garlic cloves to scheme and plot. Thus, behind the well-known story of "the bear’s patience and the tiger’s failure," the garlic have problems of their own.

In his first picture book, "The Man Who Paints His Nails," Lee Geunhyeong started by glancing at the familiar from a different angle. As a newspaper journalist, he introduces himself as someone who "always tries to see things from a slightly different perspective." In his second picture book, the focus settles not on Dangun or Hwanung, nor the bear or tiger, but on garlic—an unlikely protagonist nobody thought to spotlight.

What’s delightful is how the book plays with this idea entirely from a child’s point of view. The ‘six-segment garlic’ becomes six elders, and their speech is as "spicy" as garlic itself. One elder claims to know all about the "juicy situations" of the villagers, and the wordplay doesn’t wait for explanation: first it’s funny, and only later does understanding dawn.

The illustrations match this playful tone. Lee Soohyun, by adding eyebrows, beards, cheeks, and mouths to otherwise round, identical garlic cloves, creates dozens of unique personalities. On the next page, after the elder stands solemnly, villagers whisper among themselves, and those against the tiger hold up protest signs. When the tiger finally eats the garlic, the page erupts in wild yellow and red, as if the tiger’s body bursts into flames.

With a background in animation, Lee Soohyun has written and illustrated "Space Delivery" and "Jellyfish Bus," and in stories like "Fantastic Side Dish Special Forces," she’s brought personality to food and everyday objects to drive the narrative. In "Oh! Garlic," her illustrations stand as jokes in themselves, not just as accompaniments to the text. While adults may follow the Dangun myth, children might spot a garlic pouting in the corner.

The picture book’s fun lies in this disconnect. That's why this story never feels the need to lecture: “Garlic is important, too.” The moment such a message is spoken, the story turns into a lesson, and garlic is banished back to a textbook. Instead, an abundance of elders—who never even existed in the original myth—appear, worrying, gossiping, and plotting among themselves. And after all the commotion, the familiar ending awaits.

The bear becomes human, the tiger leaves. History hasn’t changed. What has changed is the viewpoint from which that history is seen. To adults, the Dangun myth may remain as the ancient phrase, "for the benefit of all people," but for children, it's far more fun to imagine that even a single clove of garlic has its own story and circumstances.

"Oh! Garlic" is the seventh book in the KidsM "Oh! Series," a 44-page picture book that will be published on National Foundation Day, October 3. After closing the book, the Dangun myth comes to mind again: Hwanung, the bear woman, and Dangun himself are all there. But, curiously, this time you find yourself searching for the garlic lurking in the corner first.

Written by Lee Geunhyeong | Illustrated by Lee Soohyun | Balgyeon (KidsM)

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.