Yoojin Grace Wuertz is the author of the new children's picture book Habbi's Treasures. She also has written the novel Everything Belongs to Us. She was born in South Korea, and she lives in Princeton, New Jersey.
Q: What inspired you to write Habbi’s Treasures?
A: Sometimes a story is like a gift that falls into your lap. That’s how it was with Habbi. The book was inspired by a conversation between my dad and my son, Emmett, a week or two before the first day of school. He was 6 years old at the time and I had just picked up some new clothes for him and asked him to try them on.
Emmett was playing with my dad, known as Habbi (a shortened version of harabeoji, the Korean word for grandfather), and he was emphatically not interested in trying on the clothes. In fact, he pitched a bit of a tantrum.
My dad, who has always loved clothes, eyed what I’d bought and said, “Wow, Emmett, you’re so lucky. Look at all these new clothes you have. Look at these new pants. When I was a boy, I never had so many new clothes. In fact, I had one pair of pants– the pants from my school uniform. I wore those same pants proudly every day.”
That statement surprised Emmett and me so much that we stopped thinking about Emmett’s clothes and started asking my dad about his clothes—why did he only have one pair of pants?
That’s when we heard about how his childhood and youth following the Korean War was materially tough, but still held so many treasured memories. That’s when I realized I could tell a version of a life story with just the clothes that represented milestones in my dad’s life.
A 6-year-old might not have been able to understand these milestones in the abstract, but the memories came alive with the clothes, which were accessible entry points for a young child’s imagination.
Q: How would you describe the dynamic between your character Caleb and his grandfather?
A: I think they delight in each other. On the title page, you see Caleb packing his backpack in anticipation to spend time with Habbi. He’s prepared a picture that he drew of himself with Habbi. He also has fish food to treat Habbi’s tropical fish, and their favorite game to play together (the Korean folk game, yutnori, which is like the American boardgame, Trouble or Sorry, but instead of dice you throw rods that tell you what moves you’ve earned.)
Habbi is just as excited to spend time with Caleb. He’s playful and actively involved in Caleb’s world. He plays hide and seek (peeking a bit through his fingers as he counts), plays soccer in the backyard even when it’s raining, dances with Caleb, and gets down on the sidewalk to draw with chalk. Habbi says his favorite stories are from time spent with Caleb, and you can see he really means it.
Q: What do you think Dung Ho’s illustrations add to the book?
A: I’ve admired Dung’s art since Eyes that Kiss in the Corners and the Mindy Kim series. She has such a talent for capturing the love and affection between characters with rich specificity that grounds these connections.
For Habbi’s Treasures, I deeply appreciated how closely she researched Korean artifacts to make sure that Habbi’s house truly reflected his culture. The fabric on the throw pillow has modern Korean saekdong, which is a traditional patchwork pattern using a colorful palette. There’s a stone hareubang figure emblematic of Jeju island, which is as ubiquitous as a little Eiffel Tower souvenir might be from Paris.
For the pages featuring Habbi’s memories, the images are so detailed and transporting while retaining her expressive signature style that draws children in. Dung’s luminous illustrations made the story’s intergenerational, cross-cultural connections feel effortless. It was a dream collaboration.
Q: The Kirkus Review of the book called it a “delightful exploration of how stories can connect family across generations.” What do you think of that description?
A: I loved it because it captured my hope for the book, which is for families to use Caleb and Habbi’s story as a springboard to share the treasured memories and stories in their lives.
When I share this book with groups of children at story times or school visits, I start by asking what special names kids have for their grandparents. The array of names, whether they’re completely unique to one family or are the common affectionate names from various languages, show me that this intergenerational relationship is so special and cherished across cultures.
I especially love how the common affectionate names for “grandmother” and “grandfather” across most languages are often cute words because they are adapted to very young children. Encouraging families to share their stories between generations really makes me happy.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I have two books in the pipeline that I’m excited about. I have a YA novel, Welcome Home, Stranger, publishing from FSG Books for Young Readers in May 2027.
It’s about a family that has been estranged for two generations across the North/South Korean border, but becomes reunited when 15-year-old Ellie Kim, born and raised in Leonia, NJ, learns that her 17-year-old cousin, who escaped North Korea, is coming to live with her family for a year in New Jersey.
I also have a second picture book publishing in August 2027 from Rise x Penguin Workshop called Somi’s Star Student Day. Somi is a young girl who has just moved to the US from South Korea, and her kindergarten class is having a “Star Student Day” for each student to share their favorite things from home.
Somi has so many things she wants to tell the class about herself, but she doesn’t have the English yet to do so. She’s frustrated and nervous to try. This book shows how Somi figures out how to shine for her Star Student Day. This one is illustrated by the wonderful artist Skye Ali.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: Please check out my website, www.yoojingracewuertz.com, for information about school visits, and for special resources, including fun activity sheets for Habbi’s Treasures. Thank you so much for having me!
--Interview with Deborah Kalb. Here's a previous Q&A with Yoojin Grace Wuertz.
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