stranger

"Pink petals emanating happy glows drift through the air! It turns out that by learning to plant happy flowers with your own hands and bringing a whole bag of happiness to others, you are also distributing happiness to yourself. Wearing a mask, you and I are strangers; we hide our true emotions behind it, yet still yearn for happiness."

This is a fairy tale picture book dedicated to both adults and children. The author uses dreamy, delicate illustrations and nearly extinct words to tell a journey of searching for happiness. The "stranger" wearing a horse-head mask converses with his inner whale in the deep ocean, dragging along a few quirky cat companions, attempting to bring the accidentally discovered happy flowers to people and save the desolate city.

The story is embedded in the details of the illustrations, breaking the boundaries of language, and the book invites a broader imagination; just as when facing happiness, you and I often have different interpretations.

For the physical book production, special opaque paper was used to avoid affecting the delicate and translucent brushwork in the author's illustrations.