Description Have you ever met a kid more wonderfully mischievous than this? He picks fights with hardworking ants, digs for million-year-old fossils on the playground, dreams up a kind robot teacher, and even tries to "sell" his teacher for a bottle of Vita 300! Meet Kim Bae-Bultungi. [Interview with Author Song Eon on Kim Bae-Bultungi's Adventures] *Is Kim Bae-Bultungi based on a student you met at school? He's a truly special and extraordinary student. I've been teaching for over twenty years now, and meeting "Kim Bae-Bultungi" is something I consider a huge stroke of luck as a children's author. I don't think I'll meet another student like him again in the next ten years. *Like Congratulations on Your Graduation, Song Eon Elementary School and Kim Gucheon-Gubaek-i, you've written about many different children over the years. Was there a special reason you decided to write Kim Bae-Bultungi's story as a five-book series? Our society—and adults in general—seem determined to raise children in ways that aren't really childlike at all. I believe that's the truest reason children are unhappy today. In such a frustrating, even terrible world, Kim Bae-Bultungi is a character who lives out the essence of true childhood, without holding anything back. He's such a unique kid that even five books could barely contain all his fresh, endless adventures. I hope that children everywhere who read Kim Bae-Bultungi's Adventures can rediscover the adventurous, childlike spirit hidden within their own hearts. *Why did you choose to attach the word "adventure" to a story about school life? In Mark Twain's The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, there's a scene where Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn set off on a raft down the Mississippi River. I wondered how convincing it would be if, in today's world, our hero Kim Bae-Bultungi set off on a raft down the Han River toward the West Sea. But then I realized that if a child can look beyond a frustrating reality to imagine a new world—and keeps trying to bring that new world into being—then that child's life is an adventure in itself. At its core, childhood seeks freedom. And isn't freedom just another word for adventure? *Adults often use words like "problem child" or "maladjusted" to describe kids like Kim Bae-Bultungi who don't fit in at school. What's your view on so-called "problem children"? In my view, there's no such thing as a problem child in this world. There are only adults who create problem children. Seeing a mischievous child as a "problem" is simply a mistaken view held by adults. Mischievous, playful kids are exactly the ones whose childlike spirit is most alive and vibrant. My sincere hope is that adults with problems of their own will read these stories, so full of childlike spirit, and find a way to resolve their own issues. *What's the classroom motto in your class? Honestly, the very idea of a "classroom motto" feels a bit uncomfortable to me, but reluctantly, I do share something like one with my students: "Kids, study just a little, and play as much as you can. That's how a new world will come." *Among all your characters, is there one who resembles you as a child? Not really. As a child, I was introverted, passive, and often lost in thought. Honestly, I don't like that kind of child much, and I wouldn't want to make a character like that the hero of my stories. In short, I was a rather unhappy, uninteresting kid. [About This Book] ■ Even More Outrageous Than Little Nicholas The school seemed as calm and peaceful as a quiet fish tank—until Kim Bae-Bultungi enrolled. He finds class boring, so he plays outside all day, then shows up right at lunchtime, opening his mouth wide and begging the teacher for "just one bite," then pestering for "just one sip" of Vita 300 to wash it down. When asked which classroom object is the most "broken," he declares it's the old broom—meaning the teacher herself! Kim Bae-Bultungi's utterly unpredictable antics send ripples through the once-still surface of the classroom pond in an instant. Both his teacher and his classmates can't help but wonder, "Is there really a kid like this?"—giving him more than a few disapproving looks. But surpassing even Little Nicholas, the classic icon of childhood mischief, Kim Bae-Bultungi's antics begin to create ripples like the flutter of a butterfly's wings across still water. Even when he's not around, his playful spirit somehow makes its way into the classroom through the other kids. Classmates who once watched him warily out of the corners of their eyes now find themselves applauding, marveling, and even imitating his delightful mischief.