Big hands

"I will not forget.
Those strong hands, diligent hands, rough hands,
Hands that hid emotions, hands that scolded, hands that worried – they were all your warm hands..."
— "Big Hands" by Choi Deok-gyu

Hands that eat, hands that dress, hands that put on shoes, hands that bathe, hands that brush teeth – we use our hands to accomplish so many things, weaving together the diverse tapestry of daily life.

After becoming a father and having his own children, author Choi Deok-gyu remembered how he, too, had once held his father's big hands with his own tiny hands, exploring the vast world.

"The story I've kept hidden in my heart for so long, I'm now carefully telling it. After becoming a father, holding my child's small hand, I felt as content as if I owned the whole world. My father must have felt the same way."

Opening "Big Hands" is like looking into a mirror reflecting both large and small, past and future: a father putting shoes on his young child, and a grown child putting shoes on his elderly father; a father bathing his child in a small tub, and the child scrubbing his father's back in the bathroom... Choi Deok-gyu once hoped to add text to these images, but after several attempts, he discovered that a wordless picture book expressed his feelings even more profoundly.

"Cherishing the warmth conveyed by those hands, I hope to hold my father's gradually withering hands more often. I hope to remember the love conveyed by my father's hands through those big hands."

The precious memories shared by parents and children, the gratitude children feel for their parents' upbringing... "Big Hands" transforms the light from the depths of the heart into pages of silent, wordless emotion for readers.