{"id":9193,"date":"2026-02-26T09:47:15","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T09:47:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.florisbooks.co.uk\/blog\/?p=9193"},"modified":"2026-02-26T09:47:17","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T09:47:17","slug":"the-polar-bear-day-meet-the-illustrator","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.florisbooks.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/02\/26\/the-polar-bear-day-meet-the-illustrator\/","title":{"rendered":"The Polar Bear Day: Meet the Illustrator"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"Two<\/a>
Floris Books Art and Production Director, Leah McDowell (left) and illustrator Park Jihee (right) in Busan, South Korea on the actual beach from The Polar Bear Day!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Our Art and Production Director met illustrator Park Jihee on the very beach that is the inspiration for the end of The Polar Bear Day<\/a><\/em>. This striking, wordless picture book with characterful illustrations painted directly onto old cardboard boxes, turns everyday rubbish into something beautiful. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Park Jihee’s unique artwork captivates readers while also conveying a gentle message about the importance of caring for our endangered environment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"The<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Find out more<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Knock knock! A young boy opens his door to find a surprising visitor: a playful polar bear!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Polar<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Leah chats to creator Park Jihee about her journey to becoming an illustrator and the inspiration behind the story.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Can you tell us a bit about how you became an illustrator? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

After graduating, I\u2019ve been consistently working and participating in exhibitions. In 2024 I submitted my work to the picture book contest held by the Korea Picture Book Publishers\u2019 Association in Korea. I was selected, and it led to the publication of my book. It has long been my dream to create picture books that can tell stories through illustrations alone, without the need for grand explanations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Illustration<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

I was born and raised in Busan, South Korea, where I studied Western painting and graduated from an art university. Later, I completed my master\u2019s degree in fine arts in Granada, Spain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How did you create the artwork for The Polar Bear Day<\/em>? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Everything in The Polar Bear Day <\/a><\/em> \u2014 from the cover and endpapers to every page inside \u2014 was hand-drawn on discarded cardboard. I began to wonder if I could better convey my message not only through the subject or theme, but also through the materials, media, and techniques I used.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Artist\u2019s<\/a>
Behind the scenes in Park Jihee’s studio where she created the beautiful illustrations on recycled cardboard.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

By choosing to recycle and reuse, I wanted to take a small yet meaningful step toward environmental responsibility through my work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Art<\/a>
Inside Park Jihee’s studio where you can see lots of the illustrations from the book in progress!<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The illustrations were created using colored pencils, watercolor, acrylic paint, ink, and collage elements (such as newspaper and magazine clippings about environmental issues) on cardboard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What inspired you to create this story?<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

This story actually began more than ten years ago, during a children\u2019s illustration class I took while studying in Granada, Spain. As with most of my work, I sought inspiration from daily life. Though I had started to grow familiar with my surroundings in Spain, there were still things that kept catching my eye\u2014moments that made me stop in my tracks. I began to wonder if it was because I was still a foreigner, seeing things from a different perspective. That led me to ask: what if I told stories of daily life through the eyes of an outsider?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Children\u2019s<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What message do you want your story to tell young readers? <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

What if something you always thought was a distant issue suddenly happened right in front of you?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rather than offering a clear or definite answer to environmental issues, I hoped to show how we live our everyday lives\u2014and invite the reader to reflect on how they, too, are living theirs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As I expressed toward the end of the book, I wanted to say that whether you\u2019re a person or a polar bear, you\u2019re not alone. In this world where we live separately but together. I wanted to encourage each of us to do what we can, wherever we are. I believe that if we pay just a little more attention, our everyday actions\u2014often done without much thought\u2014can begin to shift. And when those small changes accumulate, we might find we\u2019re capable of more than we imagined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Illustration<\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

To bring everyday environmental issues into focus, I introduced an unexpected visitor\u2014the polar bear, a now-iconic symbol of endangered species and climate change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Night-time<\/a>
Park Jihee (left) and Floris Books Art and Production Director, Leah McDowell (right) in Busan, South Korea<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n\n\n\n

About the creative<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Park Jihee<\/strong> is an emerging illustrator from Busan, South Korea. She studied painting in Busan and fine arts in Granada, Spain. Jihee is passionate about creating picture books that tell stories through illustrations alone. She lives in Busan, where she spends most of her time working in her studio by the sea. The Polar Bear Day<\/a><\/em> is Jihee’s first picture book.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Children\u2019s<\/a>
The Polar Bear Day children\u2019s book cover by Park Jihee on the beach at Busan, South Korea highlighting environmental storytelling and human\u2013animal connection.<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n
Find out more about The Polar Bear Day<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

Discover more of our beautiful wordless picture books<\/a> and join our picture book mailing list<\/a> to receive a free book with every order place, exclusive discounts and keep up to date on our latest releases. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n
Join our picture book mailing list<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Our Art and Production Director met illustrator Park Jihee on the very beach that is the inspiration for the end of The Polar Bear Day. This striking, wordless picture book with characterful illustrations painted directly onto old cardboard boxes, turns everyday rubbish into something beautiful. Park Jihee’s unique artwork captivates readers while also conveying a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":9195,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[13,407],"tags":[802,150,117,1435,99,1434],"class_list":["post-9193","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-childrens-books","category-picture-books","tag-childrens-books","tag-floris-books","tag-illustration","tag-meet-the-creative","tag-picture-books","tag-wordless","odd"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Polar Bear Day: Meet the Illustrator - Floris Books Blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Meet Park Jihee, the creator of The Polar Bear Day, a wordless picture book about an unexpected visitor, with a gentle environmental message.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.florisbooks.co.uk\/blog\/2026\/02\/26\/the-polar-bear-day-meet-the-illustrator\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Polar Bear Day: Meet the Illustrator - 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