There are so many kind people here, and our room smells like new towels. It would have been nice if Dad had come too, but sadly this trip is just for the three of us — me, Mom, and Giljjuk-i. Giljjuk-i has been with me through every moment I can remember, the one dear and irreplaceable companion of my life. Past the bustling crowds at the airport departure hall, past the fluffy clouds drifting outside the plane window, and after driving a while longer, a sea that instantly captures my heart unfolds before us. We hurry to unpack at the hotel, grab our swim goggles, and race down to the beach. But even as I dive under the water a hundred times, I keep thinking of Giljjuk-i, left behind in the room so it wouldn't get wet. Mom and I give up on watching the sunset and decide to head back to the room. But Giljjuk-i isn't there. Not on the bed, not in the safe, not in the bag — nowhere. As I confirm, again and again, that Giljjuk-i is truly gone, tears well up in my eyes. This has happened a few times before, but this time feels truly strange. Where in the world could Giljjuk-i be? A story that will take us back once more to the place where we left a piece of our heart. While the story of Mom and me rushing to the beach unfolds, readers can simultaneously follow Giljjuk-i's story, told in alternating chapters. Just when Giljjuk-i, a little excited thinking it would get to go to the beach too, ends up lying under a blanket instead — the door opens again. Whirrr, splash, plop! What happens next? Spinning round and round in a swirl of bubbles, Giljjuk-i barely comes to its senses, and so begins its harrowing little journey. Filled with the soft-spreading texture of oil paint and the ever-changing colors of summer water, this fascinating adventure quietly carries us into the heart of our own travels. It brings back memories of moments we knew, even then, we would miss forever. This is a story about travel, but it is also a story about a particularly poignant season within a life that flows in only one direction. Love it until it's worn ragged! Before Summer Comes is the first story written by Kim Jin-hwa, an illustrator who has brought her distinctive art to children's books across many genres — a story that grew from the author's own experience. Named for its long, slender shape, 'Giljjuk-i' has been part of the family — sometimes filling the space left by something absent, and sometimes existing as something whole and irreplaceable in its own right. Though worn out and given new bodies more than once, and though lost and found again many times, Giljjuk-i is still doing just fine. Through its journey, the author illustrates the pure and boundless shape that love — the simple wish to stay together — can take. When that strength finally reaches across a rift and touches another, we experience the shimmering joy of being alive. The sense of loss in parting is as great as the joy of being together; the loneliness of growing up is as beautiful as the freshness of childhood; the overwhelming happiness is as real as the hardship it took to get there. Neither side can exist without the other. Perhaps recognizing this duality is the true secret to enriching our everyday lives and the relationships that begin with ourselves. The picture book Before Summer Comes will remain, like a hammock always ready to catch us, a story we can return to and fall into anytime, no matter where life takes us.