Description A Lovable Character, the Worried Mole On the cover, we see a mole walking along with snow piled on its head. Its round, endearing face and adorable movements catch the eye at first glance. This mole character, full of worries, feels instantly relatable to children—perhaps because kids, too, often carry concerns over small things that adults might overlook. The story's clever narrative, which compares a growing snowball to a growing worry, is especially wonderful. This book was introduced at the 2014 Bologna Children's Book Fair before its official publication, drawing attention from many international publishers and leading to rights deals in Germany and Canada. A Worry That Grew Like a Snowball It was a night when the snow was falling heavily. Lost in thought, the mole began walking down the road, so absorbed in worry that he didn't even notice the snow piling up on his head. Suddenly, he remembered something his grandmother once told him: "When you have a worry, try rolling a snowball." So he began to roll one. The mole's worry was that he had no friends—a worry almost everyone has felt at some point. Whether it's the fear of never making friends, worrying about being unpopular, or quietly agonizing over a small misunderstanding with a friend, worries big and small are something everyone experiences. Through the mole's short journey, children can discover their own way of working through such worries. Following his grandmother's advice, the mole keeps rolling the snowball, and soon it grows uncontrollably large. This growing snowball visually represents how a worry can grow bigger and bigger in our minds—often, one small thought leads to another, and a simple worry becomes more and more complicated. So focused on rolling the snowball, the mole fails to notice the other animals right in front of him. He can't see, hear, or smell anything else. This scene captures a familiar experience: getting so caught up in worry that we miss opportunities right in front of us. One by one, a frog, a rabbit, a fox, a wild boar, and a bear get swept into the snowball, and it's almost painful to watch the oblivious mole. This might just be a reflection of ourselves when we're lost in worry. Sharing Hearts, Joining Strength, Becoming Friends From inside the snowball come cries of "Help! Help!" The mole presses his ear to the snowball, listens closely, and then climbs inside. Buried in the snow, he meets, one by one, the other animals who are stuck there with only parts of their bodies poking out. One becomes two, two becomes three… Together, they work to dig a path through the snowball and rescue one another. As it turns out, each of the animals inside was searching for a friend too, just like the mole. It seems as though the mole's worry was never his alone. Empathy truly is the surest way to connect hearts. Finally, working together, they even manage to pull out the enormous bear—bringing with it a real sense of accomplishment. Once everyone is rescued and gathered together for the first time, they begin sharing small moments of everyday life. The wild boar, who had been longing for someone to share dinner with, offers food to share. The fox, who had been waiting for someone to hear him play the flute, quickly performs a little tune. These small, everyday moments of sharing are exactly how friendships naturally form. At last, the mole and his new friends climb out of the snowball. Just then, the morning sun rises in the distance. Its warm rays will slowly melt the snowball—symbolizing that the worry has finally, completely melted away. A Warm Afterglow of a Happy Ending Just when you think the story is over, we see the mole and his friends rolling a snowball once again. As friends often do when they're together, they've found themselves with a new, happy kind of worry: "What should we play next?" And so, with their freshly rolled snowball, they build a big, joyful snowman. This heartwarming, fairy-tale-like ending—complete with a "happy worry"—reveals the author's warm and gentle perspective. Through this story, the author reminds us that although worries never truly disappear, most of them are eventually resolved by time, or simply by chance—and that's perfectly okay.