★ Simplified Chinese rights have been sold!
★ A fairy tale by award-winning author Shim Soon, recipient of the Changbi Outstanding Children’s Book Award, whose works are known for their masterful storytelling and boundless imagination.
★ This story follows the excellent yet proud Number 1, who feels lonely and decides to give up his own abilities in order to make friends. However, without his skills, he struggles to do anything—until he learns to ask for help. Through repeated setbacks, he finally grows and finds his way.
★ With a clever and childlike touch, this book conveys themes of acceptance, understanding, and self-confidence in a way that resonates deeply with young readers.

The protagonist, Number 1, is always the best, never failing and excelling at everything he tries. Of course, Number 1 could be any other number if he gets along with other number friends, but he doesn’t. As a result, Number 1 is always alone, and on the other hand, he’s tired of being alone. For these reasons, he sets out to find friends after letting go of his abilities, such as confidence, independence, and self-esteem.
Without these abilities, Number 1 is no longer strong enough to face
problems, and he struggles even to cross puddles or roll down a hill. As he seeks help from others and experiences failures, Number 1 embarks on his journey.

Text: Shim Soon
Following her children’s story “A Gentle Greeting,” which won the New Year Literary Award, she was again honored with the Changbi Excellent Children’s Book Award for her collection of children’s stories, “The Weight of Secrets.” She has published the picture book “The World’s Most Special 1” and is currently preparing to release several other works, including a title tentatively named “Elang and Five Mothers.” Under the pen name sim Yajin, she has been writing novels for over twenty years. In 2022, she received the Tongyeong Literary Award in the novel category for her novel “The Hand of God.”

Illustrations: Kyungja
She has created and illustrated the picture books “Someone Vomited,” “Giant Face,” “Sleeping,” and “Like! Dislike!” as well as provided illustrations for “The most special 1 in the world,” “Everything Is Inside It,” “How to Make Friends,” “How to Spend Money Wisely,” “How to Write Well,” and “Dracula’s Poem.”