Written and illustrated by Choi Mi Ran

Home is the place where a family eats together, talks to each other, and takes a rest every day. Therefore, our ancestors thought of home as another small world. They all took good care of their homes, because everything would turn out to be all right only when nothing happened at home. However, sometimes bad things could happen even with such hard efforts. Sometimes a family member can get sick, and the family could have hard time on harvesting due to drought. Whenever bad things happen, the ancestors get reenergized from their home with the thinking that they should make great efforts to get over with various spirits around their home. The book titled ‘We are the housekeepers’ introduces the various kinds of spirits who defeat evils visiting 1-year-old birthday party of Makdoong. Let’s meet up with the spirit of door who protects the entrance, the spirit of livestock, the spirit of kitchen, and the spirit of children.
This children’s book starts with the story that housekeepers win the battle with evils who sneaked into Makdoong’s home at his 1-year-old birthday. Makdoong’s family can neither see evils nor the housekeepers. Only we, the readers, can watch what is going on in such an interesting story, because both evils and housekeepers cannot be seen in human eyes. It doesn’t make sense a person can see a ghost. The ancestors believed that evils and spirits all belong to God’s territory, and they had a faith that evils were bad ones, bringing the bad energy to home. Then, who are the housekeepers?
Sometimes, bad things could happen even if we try to take a good care of our home. A family member can get sick, the family had to suffer from drought, and there happen to be unexpected arguments among people. However, our ancestors got their energy to restore from their home all the time. They had a faith that the spirits were around their home, and those spirits would protect them. Therefore, they enshrined various spirits with gratefulness when they are all fine or with a strong belief when they had concerns in their family. They all believed that they could go through the hardships thanks to various kinds of spirits. Those spirits are called housekeepers.
These are the ones who will help Makdoong’s family hold his 1-year-old birthday without any trouble. They are not seen to people, but the family enshrined them with genuine hearts every day. Therefore, the writer drew those housekeepers with vivid colors, and expressed the house and the family with colors of simple tone. The writer’s intention was to express the world where everyone believe each other even though some of them cannot be seen by contrasting vivid colors with colors of simple tone.