Korean picture book brings hidden crisis for city birds to light

Cover of "A Dot, a Line, and a Bird" / Courtesy of Changbi Publishers

Zo-O's picture book "A Dot, a Line, and a Bird" is the story of a crow that loses a friend to a window collision. Through detailed, painterly illustrations, the book looks at the harsh reality of modern buildings, where birds fly into glass windows — often resulting in death.

The book from Changbi Publishers won the grand prize in fiction at the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s 2025 Picture Book Award. The book's author Zo-O hopes the recognition will help raise awareness of global bird–window collisions.

“Not many people know about this issue. I’m happy that the award will help more people understand what is happening,” Zo-O told The Korea Times in a recent interview. “Then, we can start talking about what we can do to save the birds' lives.”

According to the selection committee, “The book’s themes, conveyed metaphorically through concise prose, together with the striking contrast between its beautiful illustrations and the depiction of humanity’s destruction of civilization and nature, left a profound impact on its readers.”

When asked about the inspiration behind the story, Zo-O cited her long-standing interest in animal rights and an online lecture she took on bird-window collisions during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“When I learned about the issue, it sparked the idea,” she said. “When I was young, I once saw a dead bird on the street and had no idea why it died. After watching that lecture, I realized a collision may have been the cause.”

Bird-window collisions are a global concern, with birds ending up stunned, injured or dying from flying into windows because they cannot see the transparent or reflective glass. Writing for The Conversation, Jason Hoeksema, a professor of ecology at the University of Mississippi, noted that window strikes are the leading cause of bird deaths in the United States, citing research that estimates more than one billion birds die this way each year.

Crows feature prominently in "A Dot, a Line, and a Bird," as it does in all three of Zo-O’s published books: "Corner" (2020), "Shadow" (2023, translated title) and her latest.

“Crow was my nickname in university,” she said, explaining the recurring motif.

Among of her previous publications, "Corner" gained international traction as it was translated into English and selected as one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best Books of 2024 in the U.S., described as “a quirky, thought-provoking and stunning reminder that a house is not a home.”

The culture ministry plans to support overseas publication of this year’s award winning titles. Though "A Dot, a Line, and a Bird" was already in the process of being translated into English before the prize was announced, Zo-O hopes the recognition would help the book travel further.