strawberry

　　When crimson vines lightly touch the earth, new life is born.
　　Children line up on the new land.
　　Quietly, quietly, sleeping in the snow.
　　In the frozen night, gazing at countless stars...

　　A strawberry, small and exquisite, possesses a fragrant and sweet scent, an enchanting color, and a soft touch.
　　Who would have thought it actually contains rich energy and vitality, like a planet?

　　The author, Susumu Shingu, is an internationally renowned artist, famous for using natural energy to bring dynamism to his sculptures. His creations always echo the changes in nature, such as rain, wind, and sun. Sometimes they look like useless waterwheels, yet they can rotate freely through the weight of water; sometimes they look like boats unsuitable for sailing, yet they can play music while bailing water.

　　"Strawberry" is Susumu Shingu's first picture book.

　　He uses brief textual descriptions, leverages imagination, and employs bold colors to showcase the process of a strawberry growing from green leaves to a vibrant red fruit.

　　From the dormant earth after harvest, green leaves gradually emerge, followed by a winter's sleep in the snow, and then a full-page spread of crimson representing a beautiful sunset, hinting at the reason for the strawberry's redness; bright yellow clouds are laden with warm sunlight, and the starry sky and grasslands are vast and boundless... "Strawberries have a North Pole and a South Pole. Golden studs are embedded between the two poles. In the center of the red fruit is a white, cold world that the sun cannot touch." Susumu Shingu likens the strawberry to a planet, providing readers with a unique sensory stimulation through the visual imagination of outer space. Even after forty years, it continues to bring infinite visual impact to readers.