If you give your heart a name

Description

A heart drawn to a faraway place,
Longing for a place you can't return to,
That breathtaking feeling that comes when you suddenly fall in love with someone or something... …
I can't put it into one word, but it touches deep in my heart.
Words from far away... …

I could hardly name it
Foreign words that give names to your feelings,
A greeting of empathy and solidarity conveyed by those unfamiliar and beautiful words!

People live by expressing their thoughts and emotions in their native language, which they naturally learned as they were born and raised, and understanding the thoughts and emotions of others. However, there are times in life when you feel emotions that are difficult to explain even with the countless words in your native language. But what if there was a foreign word that accurately expressed such subtle emotions?
《If You Name Your Heart》 is a picture book made up of 17 words from 71 countries around the world that accurately express emotions or situations that cannot be described with one word in other languages. English 'Hireis', meaning longing for a place you can never return to, German 'Toassurspanik', meaning fear of lost opportunities and passing time, and Dutch meaning the uplifting feeling of spending time with loved ones. 'Heselich', the Egyptian word 'Tarav', which means the ecstasy one feels when listening to good music, the Finnish word 'Myotahapea', which refers to the shame I feel because of the ridiculous and foolish behavior of others... … . These words, compiled by Mariya Ivashkina, give a name to your feelings that you have rarely been able to name.
It is an incredibly wonderful experience to encounter a foreign language that accurately expresses my feelings that are difficult to explain even in my native language. It is a joyful and exciting experience as if I have met someone who understands my heart that even those closest to me do not know, but it is also a heart-warming experience to confirm that we are connected to each other within the larger frame of life, as we speak different languages ​​and live in different cultures. Let's do it.
One of the pleasures of reading this book is to guess their emotions and culture, which they use on a daily basis by creating one word for an emotion or situation that cannot be explained in one phrase or one sentence in Korean. In the neighboring country of Japan, there is a word called 'Komorebi' which means sunlight shining through leaves. In Greece, there is a word called 'Volta' which means enjoying the sounds and sights while walking. In Spain, there is a word called 'sobremesa', which refers to the time after eating together without anyone leaving the table and talking with the empty plate in front of them. In Sweden, there is a word called 'Smultronstelle' (strawberry field), which refers to the place you go when you want to hide from the world or be alone. The Korean word ‘Yunseul (water scale)’, which refers to ripples that sparkle in sunlight or moonlight, may be one of those words. Opening and reading this book is also a way to meet the minds of the people who created these beautiful words. This is the beautiful heart that gave names to the ‘sunlight shining through the leaves’ and the ‘ripples sparkling in the sunlight.’

Comfort provided through picture books to those who are tired of isolation and disconnection.

Mariya Ivashkina, who has been working as a designer and illustrator for a long time, published her first picture book, If You Give Your Heart a Name, in 2021, when the coronavirus pandemic was in full swing. It was a time when I felt like a lie when I could travel freely anywhere in the world.
After the pandemic, the author began work to connect himself and the world, and furthermore, the world with others, using the online network that was almost the only way to connect the world as before. I met people from all over the world online and collected their mother tongue, which cannot be replaced by a foreign language. This picture book is the result of selecting the words that best reveal the emotions and culture of each country from among the countless words collected, and then referring to numerous photographic materials to create scenes that anyone can intuitively understand.
In this picture book, the author offers warm consolation to readers who are tired of long isolation and disconnection, without even mentioning a single word about the coronavirus pandemic. Just knowing that there are people living somewhere in the world who feel similar emotions to me, and who even use words to describe those emotions on a daily basis, makes me feel connected to the world again. In addition, the unique emotions of each country, created by the exquisite combination of disparate words, and the scenes that fully capture those emotions take us into an unfamiliar yet fascinating space. A place you've never been to before or can't think of going right now.
This beautiful picture book is known to some as 'Commu Overe' (Italian for someone's story touching the depths of one's heart), to others as 'Fernbe' (German for a heart drawn to a faraway place), to others. We look forward to approaching you with 'Vorprut' (a Dutch word meaning to anticipate and rejoice in something happy that hasn't happened yet).