Yangsook Choi is the author of the bestselling classic THE NAME JAR and newly released A LETTER TO MY BEST FRIEND, among others. Growing up in Korea, she began drawing at age four and delighted in telling her grandmother scary stories at night. After moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers.
Her books have been acclaimed as a New York Times Outstanding Book of the Year, an American Library Association Notable Book, and with an International Literacy Association's Children's Book Award. She has also received 200+ rejection letters until she lost count.
Her past jobs include waiting tables at a smoky Korean BBQ restaurant, flying as a flight attendant, and drawing tiny pictures on fake nails.
When she is not creating, she delights in doodling alongside children from her community and across the globe. She has drawn with children in local shelters, mountain villages in the Himalayas, a Bedouin community in the Arabian desert, an underground shelter for North Korea refugee children in China, and an orphanage in Cambodia. She considers these children among her greatest teachers.
