— Overview
The greedy man buys every strawberry in the village, then the fields as well, and eats alone until he is sick of them. A child shares watermelon. That night he cannot sleep, because he has not shared the strawberries. The next day he carries them all to the village square, makes jam, and blushes like a strawberry. Kim Yu-kyung's 2012 picture book, as reads it, keeps a third-person distance and leaves the judgment to the child who is listening.
— Contents and key concepts
Every strawberry, then the fields
Kim Yu-kyung's 2012 picture book The Greedy Strawberry Man, as retells it, begins with appetite and a purchase that will not stop. A greedy man buys every strawberry in the village. When that is not enough, he buys the fields as well. He eats alone, and he grows sick of the very fruit he wanted. Then a child shares watermelon. That night the man cannot sleep, not because he is still hungry, but because he has not shared the strawberries. The next morning he carries them all to the village square, makes jam, and shares it. He blushes like a strawberry. The joy he finds is the joy of sharing.
The plot, mapped the way the account maps it, is tidy. Exposition: the buying of every strawberry. Development: the villagers' anger. Crisis: the buying of the fields. Climax: the child. Ending: the jam. That account does not embroider prizes or a publisher onto that outline. It stays with the story as the book gives it.
A thin motive in the adult world, a clear one for a child
The greedy man is a typical greedy figure, the account says. The cause and effect — he loves strawberries, therefore he buys them all — can look thin if you read it as adult logic. It sits more naturally on a child's wish to eat only snacks, or to watch cartoons all day. A child can also stand beside the other child in the story, the one who wants strawberries and cannot bring themselves to ask.
The telling stays in the third person and keeps an observer's distance. It does not point a finger and name the man good or bad. The sentences are short and simple, so the judgment can belong to the child who is listening. The theme is plain: sharing brings more joy than greed. Children's literature was long treated as a side stream next to adult literature. What it offers here is a child's gaze, and a wish that growth go in the right direction. That is enough for this reading, and enough for a morning of jam in the square.
Sources
- Kim Yu-kyung's 2012 picture book The Greedy Strawberry Man (욕심쟁이 딸기 아저씨), covering plot, character, style, and the theme of sharing.
Last updated: 14 November 2026
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