Why Do You Want to Make Children's Books?

Hello everyone, Happy New Year!

My name is Aram Kim, your fellow author/illustrator of children's picture books. Please allow me to ask you: Why do you want to make children's books? I'm curious. I genuinely am.

I moved to New York City from South Korea in 2006 with two gigantic suitcases, a laptop, and a backpack—the maximum I could bring on an international flight. I arrived in late summer, a couple of weeks before school started, where I was going to study illustration. While exploring the city, I ended up in the Union Square Barnes & Noble. While browsing the shelves, I reached the children's book section and felt captured by a magic spell. I couldn't walk away. Every single book I picked up was beautiful. But the real shock came when I picked up this book: In the Night Kitchen. 

I didn't even know who Maurice Sendak was back then, but I could tell the book was a masterpiece. Every panel of illustrations was mesmerizing. The story made me laugh and smile. The harmonious combination of story and illustrations was packaged seamlessly with design that felt just right. All of this…for 7 dollars! To me, it was the perfect form of art: the extraordinary pair of story and art beautifully designed together in an object you can touch, hold, and even hug, with a price that anyone can afford. What else could be more perfect?

What's perhaps more shocking is that it never occurred to me making children's books could be my career—even while I was learning to illustrate for a living. I couldn't begin to think that maybe, just maybe, I could also make children's books. After many years of boring but necessary detours, I finally realized I wanted to make children's books. I never looked back. I knew I had found home.

This year marks the 10th anniversary of my debut picture book, Cat on the Bus, which I made with the immense fortune of having guidance from Pat Cummings. When the book came out, instead of feeling excited and happy, I worried I wouldn't be able to publish a second book. Six books later, and after ten years of working in publishing from both sides of the table, I still wonder if I can keep making books.

If you're reading this blog, you probably already know the uncertainty of being in this world, whether you're a published creator or looking to publish. The anxiety comes just as often as the happiness. The uncertainty never leaves—not about my love of picture books or what a wonderful art form they are, but about my future. Can I keep making them while paying bills? Can I keep myself from falling into a rut? When uncertainty looms, reminding myself why I want to make children's books always helps. I think of that moment when I fell in love with picture books. I still have that paperback edition of In the Night Kitchen I bought at the Union Square Barnes & Noble in summer 2006. I keep it as if it's a signed first edition. It's a good tangible reminder of why I want to make children's picture books.

So, I want to ask you at the beginning of this new year: Why do you want to make children's books?

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Aram Kim is an award-winning author and illustrator of many acclaimed picture books, including the Yoomi, Friends and Family series. Aram's work has been recognized by the Junior Library Guild, Bank Street College of Education, the Mills Tannenbaum Award for Children's Literacy, and more. Raised in South Korea and now living in Queens, NY, she creates stories that bridge traditional Korean culture with universal childhood experiences. Find more about Aram's work at AramKim.com.