Monday, September 29, 2014

Writing process blog tour

Hello, I'm doing this blog tour. It's children's book authors answers same 4 questions on their blog, and tag another author for next.
The author who tagged me is Abby Hanlon. who is my neighbor, and she has this wonderful book coming out in few days. It's called "Dory Fantasmagory".  I haven't got my hands on the copy yet, but according to SLJ, it would be good. So that's on my 5 year old boy's next reading list.

And here's my 4 questions:

What am I working on?

I just finished the picture book called "PUDDLE"

It started 3 years ago, when I spent most of my time with my 2 year old son. It was one of this rainy day, we finished our routines long time ago, had snacks twice already, looked out of window so many times, and it was still raining. So we decided to draw "the rainy day". Well,actually I drew, and my son's eyes followed my drawing and he laughed, surprised and pleaded. That was the moment which become this book PUDDLE.

How does my work differ from others of its genre?

It's always been my question , but I couldn't find my answer just yet.

Why do I write what I do?

I love to read stories, watch movies, and listen other people talking. I'm pretty content with being a good listener or good reader most of time, but sometimes you want to tell your stories. We all have some stories to tell, aren't we?
Unfortunately I am not a good talker, when I tell the stories, my words jumbled, I mumbled.
So this picture book form is just perfect form to tell my stories,  I can mull it over as long as i want, if I couldn't find my words, I can just show you the picture!

How does my writing process work?


First, I have this idea. And I make up this story in my head and think about it for myself if it's good story or not. Usually for me it seems terrific at first. It seems most brilliant idea ever published. 
And then, I tell this wonderful story to my kids all excited, but obviously they usually said "OK" playing Lego. Even my 10 year old boy know what "OK' really means.(!)
Then I questioned this story myself little disheartened. 
But I start to write anyway, this time I drew this little boxes and draw tiny pictures in them(They call this thumbnails). It helps me to see the whole story line.  There's whole bunch of doodles following. Sometimes it works, and then it become a book.  But lot of times, it goes into the drawer.


When it looks like A book to me. I make it to a dummy and show this to my editor and my agent very nervously.


 They are super kind, and encourage me to work on for little more something. And that little more something could be question like "How does my work differ from others of its genre?"(-yes, I told you it's the question I haven't find the answer yet). So it takes a little while to work on that. 
I keep working to find the little more something.If it's very lucky, it become a book. Sometimes I never can work thing out. So I start with another idea, another seed all over again.


***
For the next blog tour, I'll toss the ball across the country to Tao Nyeu. If you're children's book lover, you know her already. Lucky for me I went to same school(SVA) with her, I had chance to see her work. 
Since I've been waiting for her new book after her irresistibly cute  Squid and Octopus, it will be nice to see what she's been up to.

Thanks for reading .^^ 









Thursday, September 25, 2014

review from BCCB

The twins from The Twins’ Blanket (BCCB 10/11) have returned, and they’re still not very good at sharing, especially sharing their mother (“We have only one mom. This is a big problem”). Now there’s a new little sister, and the twins don’t have much mom attention to fight over, so what do they do? Fight about taking care of their little sister, of course (“The only problem now is we need another one”). It’s refreshing to see a new baby book that focuses on the effect on existing sibling dynamics, and the strong-willed twosome, with the text entirely their dialogue, continues to be authentically endearing and annoying at the same time. Yum’s il- lustrations are spare and airy, with casually careful compositions making clear the childlike ease of the drafting is a deliberate choice; daubs of warm-toned paint (the kids are glowingly rosy-cheeked) gain rhythm from occasional uses of pattern, as in the girls’ polka-dotted dresses. Kids similarly afflicted with the requirement to share will find kindred spirits in the twins. DS

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The fun book of scary stuff

Emily Jenkins wrote, i illustrated.
It's so much fun to work on Emily's fun(yes, it's fun, told you so in the title)characters.

Puddle

I've been working on this book this summer. And here's the test print, i'm very pleased.

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

Hornbook mentioned..

http://www.hbook.com/2014/09/choosing-books/recommended-books/picture-book-sequels-youve-waiting/
Those strong-willed sisters fromThe Twins’ Blanket are back in The Twins’ Little Sister, a fresh take on both the sibling-rivalry and new-baby themes. Ever competitive, they are now fighting over Mom’s attention when, despite their objections, Mom brings home a new baby sister. Author/illustrator Hyewon Yum’s twins are believably childlike in their directness and self-centeredness. Each step forward in accepting the baby has its source in a self-interested motive, but accept her they finally do — and the twist at the end is both funny and fitting. Collage elements add texture and interest to the gouache illustrations. (Farrar/Foster, 3–5 years)

Monday, September 15, 2014

bccb review for twins' little sister

The twins from The Twins’ Blanket (BCCB10/11) have returned, and they’re still not very good at sharing, especially sharing their mother (“We have only one mom. This is a big problem”). Now there’s a new little sister, and the twins don’t have much mom attention to fight over, so what do they do? Fight about taking care of their little sister, of course (“The only problem now is we need another one”). It’s refreshing to see a new baby book that focuses on the effect on existing sibling dynamics, and the strong-willed twosome, with the text entirely their dialogue, continues to be authentically endearing and annoying at the same time. Yum’s il- lustrations are spare and airy, with casually careful compositions making clear the childlike ease of the drafting is a deliberate choice; daubs of warm-toned paint (the kids are glowingly rosy-cheeked) gain rhythm from occasional uses of pattern, as in the girls’ polka-dotted dresses. Kids similarly afflicted with the requirement to share will find kindred spirits in the twins. DS