Children's Day fails to lift bookstore sales in May

Despite Children's Day falling in May, bookstores saw no meaningful sales boost for children's and young adult titles last month.

Data from the Korea Publishing Industry Promotion Agency's integrated book distribution network showed that sales of children's, young adult and educational books reached about 40.15 billion won (about $26.4 million) in May, a slight increase from 39.86 billion won in May last year. Unit sales, however, fell to 2,689,293 copies — down 86,979 copies, or 3.1 percent, from 2,776,572 copies in the same month a year earlier. Compared with May 2024, when the category logged 40.97 billion won and 2,975,867 copies sold, revenue dropped 819 million won (2.0 percent) and volume fell 286,574 copies (9.6 percent).

Sales in the two weeks immediately before Children's Day have now underperformed for two consecutive years. Revenue in the children's, young adult and educational category in the two weeks leading up to Children's Day this year — April 22 through May 5 — came to about 19.86 billion won, below the biweekly average of 25.2 billion won for the category across January through May. The same pre-holiday window last year generated 19.39 billion won, also short of the 2025 biweekly average of 22.1 billion won for the category.

Children's and young adult titles also made little impression on the distribution network's "Top 200 Buzzworthy Books" list for May. The list ranks the month's best-selling titles based on sales data from 433 bookstores nationwide, including major chains Kyobo Book Centre, Yes24, Aladin and Youngpoong Bookstore.

Only one children's title cracked the top 10: "Heunhan Nammae 22," the latest installment in the popular "Heunhan Nammae" series, which came in at No. 2. The top 20 included just three titles from the category, with "Pokémon Ecological Field Guide" and author Baek Hee-na's new picture book "Gumeong-cheong" rounding out the group.

The No. 1 book for May was "Project Hail Mary" by Andy Weir, the source novel that re-entered the charts for the first time in five years after its film adaptation opened in March. Behind "Heunhan Nammae 22," the third through fifth spots went to "Jamong Salgu Club," a novel by writer and singer-songwriter Han Ro-ro; "Knowledge Briefing for Dignified Conversation," a new release by news anchor Kim Jin; and "I Said Goodbye," a steady seller by novelist Kim Ae-ran.

Yang Gwi-ja's "Contradiction" and Jeong Dae-geon's "Rapid Current" — older titles enjoying a resurgence in sales — held at No. 7 and No. 18, respectively. "Nietzsche's Superman" by YouTuber-turned-author Kim Cheol-ji ranked sixth, while "The Perfect Primitive," the new book by self-help author Ja-cheong, known for the bestseller "The Contrarian," came in at No. 15.

Total book sales across all categories in May reached 135.9 billion won, down 6.9 percent from 146.0 billion won in April but up 2.0 percent from 137.0 billion won in May last year.

An official at the distribution network said the children's category had failed to see its usual holiday bump for the second straight year. "Even with Children's Day, children's books did not sell noticeably more than usual," the official said, adding that a relative shortage of highly anticipated new releases, combined with growing public attention on the local elections, appeared to have driven the sharp month-on-month decline in overall sales.