Description: "Seven Years of Sleep" is a picture book by Park Wan-suh, one of our era's most celebrated authors, telling the story of a colony of ants who discover a cicada nymph that has been sleeping underground for seven years. Beyond depicting the fruits of the cicada's patience and perseverance, the book gently and honestly explores the conflict and soul-searching among the ants as they decide the cicada's fate—prompting readers to reflect on what truly matters and what values we should pursue in today's material-driven world. The ant village has been suffering through a long famine. One day, a young ant discovers a large, plump piece of food—a cicada nymph that has spent nearly seven years underground, quietly preparing its voice and wings. But a wise old ant declares that they cannot eat a creature that is about to rise to the surface, shed its shell, and take flight, sparking a tense debate among the starving ants. In the end, the ants give up this precious food and decide instead to help the cicada. If they don't carry it to safety, they will have to set out once again in search of food—with no guarantee they'll find any. As they carry the cicada nymph to safety, the ants come to a realization: filling their storehouse and their stomachs isn't the only thing that matters—nourishing and strengthening the heart is just as precious. Illustrator Kim Se-hyun, known for capturing the world our children see through the pure beauty of traditional Korean painting, sought to bring nature itself into these pages. Both the earth—the ants' home—and the cicada, who waited so long underground before rising to the surface, were rendered using natural materials: the earth painted with Andong clay, and the cicada colored with natural mineral pigments, lending the illustrations a rich depth of color and a vivid sense of life.