코끼리 아저씨와 100개의 물방울
By: Noh In-Kyung
Publisher: Munhakdongne, Korea, 2012
Format: Hardback
So much love, so many drops of water
The English translation of the title to this Korean silent book is "Mr. Tutti and 100 drops of water". This is a very interesting book in an number of ways. The artwork is, for example, composed by pixels in grayscale tones. The only elements that are drawn in a more traditional style are the elephants and the water drops.
The book starts with a pretext, stating that there has been a drought nearby, and therefore Mr. Tutti has to bring 100 waterdrops back to his children. The text is not necessary. It is very obvious from Mr. Tutti´s struggles that he is in a rush to bring his water somewhere, and the risks he takes shows how afraid he is to loose it. Without the text, we do not know that the water is for his children before the end of the book, but that only adds exitement and surprise.
With a bucket of waterdrops (and we know from the title that it is 100) on his head, Mr. Tutti rides his bicycle through the pixelated landscape. He meets all kinds of dangers: steep cliffs, thirsty giraffes, prickly cacti, water-stealing birds. He shows great courage, and also kindness of heart - he offers a few valuable waterdrops to those who need it, like a colony of ants. But in the end, he finds his bucket empty. The tears of his eyes matches the rain that falls from the sky...into his bucket, refilling it with water. There is a happy ending, and the end page shows us that Mr. Tutti is a wise elephant that has learned from his experience and figured out a better way to do things on his next trip to the lake.
I was really fascinated by the artwork, it is such an original method, and it is fun to see all the different shapes, ghosts, nature and animal made from the pixels. The pixels vary in intensity, size and shape. The greyish tones against the white background makes the water drops really pop, emphasizing their importance. Mr. Tutti is very expressive, and it is impossible to not have empathy with this hard-working father.
All the pictures in the book are double-spreads, and using the full width of the book like that emphasizes the fact that Mr. Tutti is on a long, long journey. Like many other Korean children´s book, there is a lot of white space, showing a trust in children´s imagination and and storytelling abilities. The white let´s them "fill in the blanks" with the surroundings and landscapes of their choosing, and makes extra space for their words and their stories.
The author tells that the name of the elephant, "Mr. Tutti", represents and is a tribute to all fathers. It is a light-hearted, exciting and fun tribute, worthy of all hardworking fathers out there!
No In-Kyoung has published several picturebooks and has won a lot of awards for many of them, including two international awards for Mr. Tutti.
