'Give Me a Rice Cake or I'll Eat You': 5 Meanings of Lee Uk-bae's Onuii Iyagi Winning the Bologna Ragazzi Award Grand Prix for K-Picture Book Globalization and the Power of Korean Minhwa

TL;DR

• Lee Uk-bae's (age 66) Onuii Iyagi (Sakyejul, 2020) wins the Special Category (Fables & Fairy Tales) Grand Prix at the 63rd Bologna Ragazzi Award
• The Bologna Ragazzi Award is the most prestigious prize in children's publishing; the Special Category changes its theme each year
• The winning work reinterprets the Korean folktale 'The Sun and the Moon (Haenim Dalnim)' in the style of Korean minhwa (folk painting)
• Jeon Bo-ra's Maeum Geureut (Bowl of the Heart) (Opera Prima Special Mention) and Lee Gyeong-guk's Sangsang Geumji! (No Imagination!) (Cross-Media Special Mention) also honored → Korea sweeps three awards simultaneously
• The award ceremony is scheduled for April 13–16 at the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy

1. The Facts: What Happened

On the afternoon of March 6, Sakyejul Publishing officially announced that Lee Uk-bae's Onuii Iyagi had won the Grand Prix in the Special Category (Fables & Fairy Tales) at the 63rd Bologna Ragazzi Award. Yonhap News, Hankyoreh, YTN, JoongAng Ilbo, Kyunghyang Shinmun, and News1 all reported simultaneously.

The Bologna Ragazzi Award is the most prestigious award in children's publishing, hosted annually by the Bologna Children's Book Fair in Italy. In addition to fixed categories such as Fiction, Non-fiction, and Comics, a special theme is chosen each year. The 2026 Special Category theme was 'Fables & Fairy Tales.'

Onuii Iyagi is a picture book based on the folktale 'The Brother and Sister Who Became the Sun and the Moon (Haenim Dalnim)' — a story every Korean knows from childhood. Originally published in 1996 as part of a picture book collection, it was re-released in 2020 as a standalone title in a large, tall format reflecting the actual size of the original artwork.

Korea's achievements at Bologna this year extended beyond Lee Uk-bae alone:

• Jeon Bo-ra's Maeum Geureut — Opera Prima Special Mention
• Lee Gyeong-guk's Sangsang Geumji! — Cross-Media Special Mention

All three titles were recognized simultaneously.

2. Why It Spread: How Did This Work Rise to Fame?

The Universal Appeal of the 'Haenim Dalnim' Folktale

The story of the brother and sister who become the sun and the moon is one Korean children encounter from infancy. A tiger eats their mother, threatens the siblings, and ultimately they ascend to the sky to become the sun and the moon. Its narrative structure of death, fear, wit, and salvation is universally human — accessible even to international judges unfamiliar with Korean culture.

The Originality of Lee Uk-bae's Art Style

Lee Uk-bae is a pioneering first-generation Korean picture book artist who has brought the lines and colors of Korean minhwa (folk painting) into modern picture books. The bleed of cerulean blue, gnarled ancient trees, a tiger rendered hair by hair — an aesthetic language entirely unlike Western illustration grammar that caught the eye of the international jury. The judges praised the work for "lightly and vividly capturing the verbal sparring, wit, and humanity between the tiger and the siblings in the style of Korean folk painting."

The K-Culture Halo Effect

In recent years, Korean tiger characters such as those in K-Pop Demon Hunters have built global fanbases, raising international audiences' affection for tigers from Korean folklore. The mischievous-yet-fearsome tiger in Onuii Iyagi aligned perfectly with this global K-Culture context.

3. Context and Background: The Globalization of Korean Picture Books

This is not the first time a Korean picture book has won recognition at the Bologna Ragazzi Award. Since the mid-2010s, wins have been reported steadily. However, it is exceptional for a first-generation author using traditional minhwa techniques to win the Grand Prix.

The significance of this win can be summarized in several points:

1. Expanding K-Culture's Reach — Beyond music, dramas, and film, now into traditional painting and oral literature
2. Rediscovering a Senior Artist — Lee Uk-bae's 1996 original artwork reevaluated on the world stage in 2026 at age 66
3. The Power of the Korean Original — Recognized by the world based solely on Korean-language text and minhwa illustrations, without translation
4. Triple Win — Demonstrating the depth of Korea's children's publishing industry to the world

4. Outlook: How Long Will the Impact Last?

• Short-term (within March): Media coverage spreads, social media shares, renewed spotlight in domestic bookstores. Possible reprints due to sell-outs
• Mid-term (Bologna Book Fair in April): The April 13–16 ceremony and Book Fair will reignite attention. Rapid increase in foreign rights negotiations likely
• Long-term: Overseas translation publications, possible inclusion in global reading curricula

Estimated lifespan: 1–3 weeks (media bubble) + rekindling at the April Book Fair

5. Checklist: How to Use This News

References

• Yonhap News — Lee Uk-bae's Picture Book 'Onuii Iyagi' Wins Bologna Ragazzi Award Special Prize (2026.03.06)
• Hankyoreh — 'Haenim Dalnim' in Minhwa Style… Lee Uk-bae's 'Onuii Iyagi' Wins Ragazzi Award Special Category Grand Prix (2026.03.06)
• JoongAng Ilbo — Lee Uk-bae's 'Onuii Iyagi' Wins This Year's Bologna Ragazzi Award Special Category Grand Prix (2026.03.06)
• YTN — Lee Uk-bae's Picture Book 'Onuii Iyagi' Wins Bologna Ragazzi Award Special Category Grand Prix (2026.03.06)
• Sakyejul Publishing Official Announcement

Image Credit

• Irworobongdo (日月五峯圖) — A Joseon royal court painting depicting the sun, moon, and five peaks. Source: Wikimedia Commons, Public Domain. URL: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b5/Irworobongdo.jpg