Description: When you need a bit of sweet, comforting magic, come visit the Thumping-Heart Convenience Store! An author who shines a light on children's everyday lives and paints them in color. If the neighborhood stationery shop was once the beloved hangout for kids of the past, today's children have the convenience store instead — a place to stop by for a snack and some chatter with friends on the way home from school or after-school classes. Kim Young-jin's Thumping-Heart Convenience Store shines a light on this everyday space in children's lives and colors it with a touch of "healing magic." But the real magic at the Thumping-Heart Convenience Store doesn't actually come from the snacks like Egg Joa, Haek-jjang-syeo, or Ramen-ttang. These treats are simply a means of awakening memories, courage, and love that lie quietly sleeping in a child's heart. Egg Joa brings back Hyeon-myeong's memories of being a baby, wrapped in his parents' full love and attention — even the memory of promising his newborn baby sibling that he'd always play together. Hyeon-myeong may go right back to squabbling with his sibling, but those memories will guide him back to being a reliable big brother. Haek-jjang-syeo helps timid Min-chae let out the feelings she's been bottling up inside. "You tripped during lunch because you weren't looking where you were going! Why are you blaming me?" "Why am I the only one getting scolded? Shouldn't you ask what happened first? That's not fair, teacher!" "You spilled the water during art class because you bumped it with your elbow! Why are you mad at me?" After turning into a giant gorilla and roaring out loud, all her pent-up frustration melts away. And she decides that from now on, she'll speak her true feelings to her friends and teacher clearly — even if she needs a little help from Haek-jjang-syeo at first. Ramen-ttang and star-shaped candies bring In-hae's dad, who had to work on a holiday, back to her side. Whether it was really magic that brought him home early or not, what matters to In-hae is that she gets to spend time with her dad. Just sharing a cup of instant noodles and Ramen-ttang while chatting about little things turns the street in front of the convenience store into a campsite under a shower of stars. And this memory will glow warmly in In-hae's heart for a long, long time. Kim Young-jin is a masterful storyteller who shines a spotlight on children's everyday lives and gives them special meaning — a skill rooted in patient, careful observation. For this book, the author reportedly spent a good deal of time at a convenience store near a school, observing children's daily lives up close. And from that ordinary space, a truly special place of healing was created. The convenience store you visit all the time, the snacks you eat all the time, are reborn here as a magical space and magical items that gently comfort children's hearts. Children don't visit convenience stores just because they're hungry. Like Hyeon-myeong, Min-chae, and In-hae, they're looking for small comforts for their hearts. We hope that the same small, sweet magic that happened to Hyeon-myeong, Min-chae, and In-hae will happen to every child who reads this book — and that their bumpy, tangled feelings will soften and smooth out as they return to everyday life.