Description The Wall That Holds Our Hearts The wall that held my hand tight "The wall is a playground for hide-and-seek. A wall scribbled with playful marks. Fingers that play a tune—re-mi-fa, re-mi-fa." When the child came home from school, she would crouch by the alley wall and toss pebbles. When she walked along the cracked, peeling wall with her five fingers trailing across it, the wall sang out—re-mi-fa, re-mi-fa. One by one, the children would drop their bags at home and gather to play hide-and-seek, jump rope, and stake-the-ground games. To the children, the wall was neither too high nor too low—just tall enough that with a little effort, they could hop right over it. The wall that once divided house from house, mine from yours, quietly became a friend who watched over the children and played alongside them. Playing with the wall as their companion, the sun would often sink low and the sky beyond the mountains would turn a deep blue before they knew it. That was always the moment they'd hear their names being called, and the cry, "Time to eat!" And the wall, their playmate, would gladly send the children home. Even as they chattered softly with their families inside, the wall was never lonely—for it cradled all their stories, and the stars too, as it waited to greet the next morning. Short Words, Simple Pictures, a Long, Lasting Story Written and illustrated by Ji Gyeong-ae, The Wall is a picture book that reads with wonderful ease. The illustrations are simple enough to take in at a glance. And yet, the author spent a full five years creating this single picture book. Partly because it was her first picture book, but mostly because there was so much she wanted to hold within its pages. Revisiting the memories of her own childhood was no small task, she says. Writing so simply and briefly proved surprisingly difficult, too. For the artwork, she wanted to capture a hazy, nostalgic feeling—almost as if you could reach out and touch the wall—so she applied and pressed acrylic paint again and again. Wanting to render the cat in ink wash, she drew on the help of her own pet cat, giving the character a free, expressive quality that still blends beautifully with the rest of the illustrations. Following the cat's journey alongside your child adds a special layer of fun to reading this book. Though no cat story is explicitly told, it's the cat who opens the very first page—making this, in its own quiet way, a book about the cats of the neighborhood alley too. A Dream That Holds a Child's Heart, Just as the Wall Once Held the Stars All Night Author Ji Gyeong-ae is a mother to an elementary-school-aged son and a daughter born later in life. Living in an apartment, she often feels a quiet sense of apology toward her children. When she was young, there were children throughout the neighborhood, and alleys and walls where they could easily go out and play. But now, tall apartment buildings have replaced the old, weathered walls. Safe, polished playgrounds—free of scraped knees and muddy hands—have taken the wall's place. After preschool, young children today spend their time at home reading books or playing with factory-made toys. Once school lets out, older children circle endlessly through after-school academies, wander apartment shopping streets in small groups, or watch television at home. Ji Gyeong-ae says she didn't write The Wall hoping the world would return to the way it once was—after all, that's no longer possible. Instead, in a world where low walls have vanished and far taller ones have risen in their place, she hopes that just as the old wall once held our children's hearts, we can raise our children with open, free spirits—all the more so because they no longer have the carefree days of running through neighborhoods and alleyways. And perhaps, when the children raised this way grow up, they too will be able to hold the world gently in their arms with peace—just as the wall once held the stars, all through the night.