As we were preparing for the trip, my father explained that he only had a third grade reading level of Korean. He ended up taking my family and my oldest brother’s family on a trip to Seoul and Busan. around 1955 and he’d never gone back to Korea to visit.
But my mother (they were married over 50 years) had recently passed away, and he was inspired to get in touch with his roots. This was a man who did not enjoy traveling. In 2014, my father told me that he wanted to visit Korea.
In celebration of Carol’s first trade publication, King Sejong Invents an Alphabet, illustrated by Cindy Kang (Albert Whitman & Co., 2021) we sat down to chat and reflect on her journey.Ĭan you tell us the exciting story of this book, from idea through drafting and revision, from sale to publication? I have been the program’s mentor twice, most recently working with the wonderful Carol Kim. The Austin chapter of the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) is particularly vibrant, and among its many offerings is a mentorship program named for Cynthia Leitich Smith!