BIO

LeUyen Pham is an award-winning and critically acclaimed author and illustrator of more than one hundred forty books (thus far). Her first publication was the picturebook Can You Do This, Old Badger? in 1999. Since then, she has produced many notable works, including the Princess in Black series, Real Friends series, and the picturebook Bear Came Along, which was awarded a Caldecott Honor in 2020.

Born in Vietnam, Ms Pham and her family fled the country in the final days of the Vietnam War. She grew up in Southern California and started college at UCLA as a political science major, but decided to follow her passion and transferred to the Art Center College of Design, where she graduated with a degree in illustration. Ms Pham currently lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two sons, as well as a cat named Sardine and a gecko named Kumquat.

IRIS COLLABORATION

IRIS (Inspiring Readership at International Schools) is a network developed by Tongbang Books to collaborate with the international school community in Korea on a wide range of literacy activities.



As an IRIS initiative, Tongbang Books was honored to support LeUyen Pham's first visit to Korea in February 2024, when she was hosted by SIS (Seoul International School) as an author in residence.

EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW

What does your name mean?
Growing up, my mother told me my name meant "little brown bird". But I just looked it up, and what it actually means is "Mandarin Duck". But it also means "deep and intelligent." Not so bad!

As a Vietnamese-American, how has your background influenced your work?
Because it's impossible to remove my learned history from how I create my work, my background is present in everything I do. Since I started publishing over 25 years ago, I've chosen projects that are diverse and wide ranging, to interpret mostly Western stories with a more Eastern sensibility.

What is your favorite English word?
"Pickle." I don't know why, it's just fun to say.

If you could have dinner with any author/illustrator (living or dead), who would it be? What would be your first question?
Oooh, that's a tough one! I think I might say, Shakespeare. And my question would be, "So how many of your plays did you really write?"

What was your favorite book as a child?
My favorite novel was The Witch of Blackbird Pond - I identified with the heroine, Kit, who comes to live in a foreign land and struggles to take root. My favorite picture book was Where's Wallace? - I just loved the illustrations.

What 3 books have most influenced you as an artist?
Caps For Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina, Persepolis by Marjane Satrapi, and The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin.

What is your favorite work of K-LIT?
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee - just amazing writing.

Beyond K-LIT, what is your favorite work of Korean pop culture?
So many! Parasite is one that sticks to me - a brilliant film.

Among your many works, which book is the most personal to you?
I've illustrated over 140 books (so far), which is crazy! The most personal is Big Sister, Little Sister - written as a present for my sister when she was 34, and I hadn't intended to publish it until she asked me to.

Which book was the most fun to write/illustrate?
The most fun was Lunar New Year Love Story (written by Gene Luen Yang) - a mix of genres: romance, comedy, horror, the book tested all my abilities.

Tell us about your latest literary project.
I'm working on another big graphic novel called As I Dream of You (written by Jen Lee) - a young adult romance based on the myth of Orpheus and Eurydice, set in the late 90s. I'm loving graphic novels these days!

What do you hope Korean readers will appreciate about your work?
I hope readers will recognize the wide breadth of my work, the variety of genres, subjects, and most importantly, styles that I've used. It's important to keep challenging myself as a creator.

On your recent visit to Korea, what was your favorite part of the trip?
So much! The food, the people, the beautiful river walk, the amazing public transportation system! Seoul is a beautiful city. I need to come back.

AUTHOR'S FEATURED BOOK

Graphic novel superstars Gene Luen Yang and LeUyen Pham join forces in this heartwarming romantic comedy about destiny, family, and falling in love.
She was destined for heartbreak. Then fate handed her love.

Val is ready to give up on love. It's led to nothing but secrets and heartbreak, and she's pretty sure she's cursed―no one in her family, for generations, has ever had any luck with love.

But then a chance encounter with a pair of cute lion dancers sparks something in Val. Is it real love? Could this be her chance to break the family curse? Or is she destined to live with a broken heart forever?

Lunar New Year Love Story was a nominee for the 2024-2025 Morning Calm Medal - High School.

AUTHOR’S FAVORITE CHILDHOOD BOOK

BOOKS THAT INFLUENCED THE AUTHOR