Yangsook Choi

Yangsook Choi is the author of the beloved classic, THE NAME JAR and newly released A LETTER TO MY BEST FRIEND, among others. She grew up in Korea and started drawing at age four. As a child, she loved telling her grandma scary stories at night. Since moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers. Her books have been acclaimed as a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, an American Library Association Notable Book, and with an International Literacy Association's Children's Book Award. She has also received 200+ rejection letters until she lost count. Her past jobs include waiting tables at a smoky Korean BBQ restaurant, flying as a flight attendant, and drawing tiny pictures on fake nails. When she is not creating, she loves to doodle with children in her community and around the world. She has drawn with children in local shelters, mountain children in the Himalayas, Bedouin children in the Arabian desert, refugee children from North Korea, and children in a Cambodian orphanage. She considers these children among her greatest teachers.