Eileen Robinson with Reycraft introduced us, via a Zoom webinar, to author and illustrator Wook Jin Jung. Wook Jin said his book, “Black Cat, Yellow Bunny,” is based off of his life journey. He said that he came to America 25 years ago from South Korea as a college student not knowing English and later got a job in design. His journey wasn’t an easy one and wanted to share his near wordless story, to bring empathy to readers. Wook Jin says, “Simple kindness to get to know each other,” is welcome when in a new environment. It was mentioned children might feel similarly when they are in a new school.
Wook Jin’s second book, “Little Bunny’s Balloon,” has more words, but Robinson said that the book has different reading levels because pages include two different size fonts and styles, where a reader could just read the one size font and still understand the story. This story is depicted with lots of color and shapes, which Wook Jin says represents a diverse world. This friendship and birthday book follows the bunny as he chases his balloon and meets new friends.
Please note that as a guest post, the views expressed here do not represent the official position of ALA or ALSC.