"Thumb Addiction" (Lee Si-hun, Namuui Maeum) — The smartphone has become the defining worry for parents of young children today. As children grow increasingly absorbed in their devices, families are seeing attention spans shrink and conversation disappear. Lee, a specialist in media and sex education, argues that simply limiting screen time or blocking access is not enough to protect children in a digital world. For today's children, the smartphone is not merely a gadget — it is the space where they make friends, play games and discover new knowledge. What matters, Lee writes, is helping children understand how media works, choose content for themselves and filter out harmful or inappropriate material. "Parents and children need to build shared standards for media use and put them into practice together," Lee says, offering a practical home guide. Crucially, the book insists that parents must change too: rather than demanding self-regulation from children alone, parents should examine their own media habits and reach agreements the whole family can accept.
"A Rock's Sense of Time" (Marcia Bjornerud, translated by Kim So-jeong, Cocoon Books) — To geologist Bjornerud, a pebble is anything but ordinary. Every stone is a fragment of a solid Earth that has melted, hardened, boiled, erupted and frozen over vast stretches of time — and it is that process, Bjornerud contends, that made the planet we inhabit today. Understanding the deep time encoded in rocks, the author argues, holds the key to finding solutions for a humanity suffering under extreme climate change. By studying stones that have witnessed the Earth's formation, the rise of mountain ranges and the atmosphere, the emergence of life, mass extinctions and the age of humanity, we can uncover why the planet has remained so richly alive despite repeated upheavals — and respond more effectively to the changes now underway. "I believe that if more people understood our shared history and fate as inhabitants of this Earth, we would treat one another, and this planet, far better," Bjornerud writes.
"Goodbye, Eomni" (Jeon Gyeong-cheol, Iyagi Jangsu) — "To find the greatest miracle inside the most ordinary scene — isn't that the secret love every parent quietly gives a child?" The posthumous collection of Jeon Gyeong-cheol, a writer known as a "Peter Pan dad" who carried his family's burdens alone for decades, has been published. Jeon spent years caring under one roof for a son with severe autism and a mother with dementia, and the book gathers the final words Jeon left before passing away last month. Having set aside a promising career to become his family's anchor for some 25 years, Jeon continued to care for his son and mother and document their lives even after receiving a terminal diagnosis of end-stage liver cancer. In a quiet voice, Jeon speaks of wanting someone to remember his mother's life after he is gone, and of hoping his son will belong to a community where the son can live with dignity and happiness. The traces Jeon left behind — days of miracle built through selfless love and support — carry a deep, aching resonance and invite reflection on the values of care and community that are fading in modern society.
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