Description: From 'Me' and 'You' to 'Us' Look at the cover. The child's large eyes gazing back at us seem worried. Is something upsetting or troubling? It looks as though tears might fall at any moment. Who is the 'you' this child is looking at, to bring about such a sad expression? The child on the cover is already familiar to many readers. We've met this child before in the beloved, long-cherished books It's Okay and Will You Be My Friend? What could be troubling the child who once declared with a bright, confident face, "It's okay. I can laugh the biggest laugh in the world," or who once stepped forward first with a warm hand outstretched, saying, "Will you be my friend?" Author Choi Sook-hee's new work, When I Look at You, tells the story of a child growing one step further. The child who once took pride in 'me' and reached out to 'you' now begins to see the world with a broader, deeper gaze, learning the path toward becoming 'us.' How much must it have hurt? How sad must it have been? How frightening must it have felt? A Seed of Empathy Grown from Care and Affection When I Look at You is a book about empathy. It began with a single photograph. The author could not forget the image of a bird trapped entirely inside a plastic bag, and wanted to share that feeling. She wanted us to reflect together on how we often dismiss others' pain and sorrow as having nothing to do with us. To keep 'me' and 'you' from scattering apart and breaking, to become 'us' and live together, she wanted to talk about how precious it is to hold even a small piece of a heart that aches together with another. A fox in the wasteland, a sea lion amid a pile of trash, a kitten in the middle of flames... The child in the book cannot simply pass by such 'you's. 'How sad must it have been? How much must it have hurt? How frightening must it have felt?' The child feels these things together with them. In the end, empathy is imagination directed toward another being. The attitude of stepping into someone else's shoes and imagining their feelings begins with care and affection for that being. That is why, at the very beginning of the book, the child says, "I looked at you for a long time." The image of a child who doesn't carelessly pass over another's pain, but instead watches closely and takes it to heart, is proof of how beautifully their inner self is growing. This capacity for empathy—for a heart that aches together with another—will become a precious seed that allows you and me to become 'us' and live together in this world. I'm So Glad You're Here Deeply moved by the pain and hardship of struggling friends, the child wishes with all their heart: 'If only we could open up a blue sky for the butterfly suffering beneath the hazy sky. If only we could give the elephant thirsting in the parched land a cloud to bring cool rain. If only the monkey, left out simply for looking different, could joyfully play with friends.' But soon, tears come. It's upsetting and heartbreaking that there is nothing the child can truly do. Even if we cannot fully understand another's pain, even if we cannot solve it, perhaps a single tear shed together, out of care and understanding, can become a quiet comfort that warmly embraces the hearts of those who are hurting. That is how powerful empathy can be. When I Look at You tells the story of a small beginning—one that awakens the strength to support one another and to keep living together.