Mom Battery

Written by Lee Songhyeon, Illustrated by Kim Gyutaek

Synopsis

It’s a market day with plenty of delicious food. But Woojin is not happy. His mom only buys what she wants to eat. And she uses Woojin’s pocket money to buy taffy, which Woojin doesn’t really like. This isn’t the first time mom has done this. She is used Woojin’s pocket money to buy fish cakes, hot dogs, and even a new blouse.

Woojin wants to have a younger sibling who doesn’t take his pocket money and spend it, and who listens to him all day long. This is why he envies Soyoon, who lives in the same apartment. Soyoon’s younger brother, Sochan, is very cute and adorable. Woojin wants to have a brother so badly that he gives Soyoon a new pair of rollerblades and borrows Sochan. However, Woojin’s plan to borrow her brother fails because Sochan cries and screams.

Each of Woojin’s friends has a special younger sibling. There are robots, dolls, puppies, and even an iguana. Woojin wishes he could have a robot sibling instead of a human sibling, but he can’t afford it because it’s too expensive. So Woojin comes up with an idea: his mom becomes his sister like a transforming robot. Mom promises to transform if Woojin asks her, but she doesn’t keep her promise. She is busy preparing dinner, she is tired from working too much, and she says she doesn’t have any batteries.

Woojin and his friends each bring their younger siblings for a best younger sibling contest. When Woojin’s friends see that he brought his mom, they yell at him for cheating, but his mom becomes his awesome robot sister. As a sister, she can run and do the splits easily. However, she collapses in the middle of a competition with an iguana she hates.

Turns out, she collapsed because had a bad wisdom tooth. At the dental clinic, while her wisdom tooth are removed, Woojin stays by her side, holding her hand and telling her to cheer up. On the way home, mom tells him that she doesn’t feel any pain now that her battery is full. The battery that fills her empty heart is her beloved son, Woojin.

Author : Lee Songhyeon

Lee teaches Children and Youth Literature at Chung-ang University and has also worked as a broadcast writer. He won the Chosun Ilbo New Young Writers’ Prize for children’s poem 〈Candy in My Pocket〉 in 2010. He won the 9th Sakyejul Literary Award for 《My Youth, 370 kilometers per hour》 and the 13th Seorabal Literary Award for Newcomer for 《Mom Battery》. His children’s poem 〈Only Look at Me〉 was included in an elementary school textbook.

Illustrator : Kim Gyutaek

Kim strives to be a person who can convey the emotions received from stories in a richer way. He wrote and illustrated 《Once Upon a Time》 and 《The World’s Biggest Cauldron》, and illustrated 《How to Apologize to You》, 《From Hanseong to Seoul》, 《A Dog Eating Ramyeon》, and so on.