Tuesday, May 25, 2021

kiBooka - A Resource Celebrating Books for Kids and Teens by Korean Americans (and Korean Diaspora)

A celebration of children's literature by Korean Americans and Koreans living outside Korea, the kiBooka website was created by Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park. The idea is to list books traditionally published in English by Korean American and Korean diaspora creators, grouped under "Picture Books," "Middle Grade", and "Young Adult."

As of writing this, the kiBooka site lists 33 picture books:

A screenshot of the picture book page on the kiBooka website


12 middle grade titles:

A screenshot of the middle grade page on the kiBooka website


And 17 young adult books:

A screenshot of the young adult page on the kiBooka website


And those lists will keep growing! As Linda Sue wrote on the website's About page, 

"This kiBooka website is a source of great happiness for me. When my career began more than 20 years ago, there were very few creators of Korean ancestry publishing in the US—it would have been a forlorn site indeed! I’m excited about the talented writers and artists whose books are now available, and hope you will enjoy learning about them and their work." — Linda Sue Park

In this interview by Stephani Martinell Eaton on Cynthia Leitich Smith's Cynsations blog, Linda Sue Park speaks with six creators (Janet Wong, Marie Myung-Ok Lee, Paula Yoo, Aram Kim, Helena Ku Rhee, and Chris Soentpiet) about what kiBooka "means for them professionally and personally." 

They speak of how more than a list, kiBooka represents a gathering of community.

If you'd like your upcoming book featured on the kiBooka website, you'll find details on submitting here.

Illustrate, Translate, and Write On,
Lee

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