{"id":2510,"date":"2002-09-19T17:26:27","date_gmt":"2002-09-19T21:26:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bookdragon.si.edu\/?p=2510"},"modified":"2015-08-17T10:37:54","modified_gmt":"2015-08-17T14:37:54","slug":"dear-santa-please-come-to-the-19th-floor-by-yin-illustrated-by-chris-soentpiet-illustrator-interview","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dear-santa-please-come-to-the-19th-floor-by-yin-illustrated-by-chris-soentpiet-illustrator-interview\/","title":{"rendered":"Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet + Illustrator Interview [in AsianWeek]"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Chris<\/a>Picturing the Worlds of Chris Soentpiet<\/strong><\/p>\n

No number of rejections could dampen Chris Soentpiet\u2019s determination to succeed and put his artwork forward. Even after being refused by more than 10 publishers as\u00a0a fresh-faced college graduate, he continued pounding the pavement. \u201cI kept going because I wanted to eat, I needed a job,\u201d he says. Today, Soentpiet\u00a0is one of the most lauded children\u2019s book illustrators. His remarkable titles include Peacebound Trains<\/em> by Haemi Balgassi, So Far From the Sea <\/em>and Jin Woo<\/em> by Eve\u00a0Bunting, and Molly Bannaky<\/em> by Alice McGill.<\/p>\n

Just out,\u00a0Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor<\/em> is his 15th title, and his second collaboration with his wife and business partner, whose pen name is Yin. The delightful, engaging book about two young boys living in a housing project who have a memorable encounter with Santa, is based on Yin\u2019s growing up on the 19th floor of a Lower Manhattan apartment.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s first collaboration, Coolies<\/em>, based on Yin\u2019s Chinese American ancestors who helped build the transcontinental railroad, won the Parents\u2019 Choice Foundation\u2019s Gold Award for Best Picture Book in 2001 and was named an ALA Notable Book and an IRA Children\u2019s Book Award winner in 2002.<\/p>\n

Soentpiet, who is a Korean-born adoptee, discovered watercolors in a high-school art class. His art teacher was so impressed that he secretly sent out Soentpiet\u2019s work to art schools around the country and helped him get a scholarship to the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Soentpiet thought he might be a commercial artist until he met illustrator Ted Lewin, who encouraged him to illustrate children\u2019s books and the rest, as they say, is history. \u201cThat was nearly 10 years ago,\u201d says Lewin, \u201cand his \u2018fire in the belly\u2019 has not cooled. His work continues to amaze.\u201d<\/p>\n

AsianWeek<\/em><\/strong>: How much of your Korean or your adoptive background gets played out in your books?
\n Chris Soentpiet<\/strong>: Being adopted has more of an impact on my illustrations than being Korean. I say that because being adopted gave me an opportunity to see the world. Before that, I only knew my childhood in Korea. When I came to America, it was a whole new experience, from Hawai\u2018i to Oregon to Alaska, then back to Oregon, and now here I am in New York. Traveling really broadened the way that I illustrate. I always wanted to expand. I didn\u2019t want to be typecast, to be seen as only as an Asian person. Being adopted \u2013\u00a0my mother is Irish\/German, my father is Dutch, and my baby brother is Hawaiian\u00a0\u2013\u00a0our family feels like it\u2019s the United Nations. So I never thought about just doing Korean books. I always wanted to draw all sorts of other people. … [click here for more<\/a>]\n

Profile<\/strong>: “Picturing the Worlds of Chris Soentpiet,” AsianWeek<\/em>, September 19, 2002<\/a><\/p>\n

Tidbit<\/strong>:\u00a0Chris Soentpiet<\/a> was a delightful guest for the Smithsonian’s\u00a0Korean American Centennial Commemoration<\/a>‘s summer program, “Korean American Adoptees<\/a>,”\u00a0on July 24, 2003.<\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Children<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\"DearPicturing the Worlds of Chris Soentpiet<\/strong><\/p>\n

No number of rejections could dampen Chris Soentpiet\u2019s determination to succeed and put his artwork forward. Even after being refused by more than 10 publishers as a fresh-faced college graduate, he continued pounding the pavement. \u201cI kept going because I wanted to eat, I needed a job,\u201d he says. Today, Soentpiet is one of the most lauded children\u2019s book illustrators. His remarkable titles include Peacebound Trains<\/em> by Haemi Balgassi, So Far From the Sea <\/em>and Jin Woo<\/em> by Eve Bunting, and Molly Bannaky<\/em> by Alice McGill.<\/p>\n

Just out, Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor<\/em> is his 15th title, and his second collaboration with his wife and business partner, whose pen name is Yin. The delightful, engaging book about two young boys living in a housing project who have a memorable encounter with Santa, is based on Yin\u2019s growing up on the 19th floor of a Lower Manhattan apartment.<\/p>\n

The couple\u2019s first collaboration, Coolies<\/em>, based on Yin\u2019s Chinese American ancestors who helped build the transcontinental railroad, won the Parents\u2019 Choice Foundation\u2019s Gold Award for Best Picture Book in 2001 and was named an ALA Notable Book and an IRA Children\u2019s Book Award winner in 2002.<\/p>\n

Soentpiet, who is a Korean-born adoptee, discovered watercolors in a high-school art class. His art teacher was so impressed that he secretly sent out Soentpiet\u2019s work to art schools around the country and helped him get a scholarship to the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Soentpiet thought he might be a commercial artist until he met illustrator Ted Lewin, who encouraged him to illustrate children\u2019s books and the rest, as they say, is history. \u201cThat was nearly 10 years ago,\u201d says Lewin, \u201cand his \u2018fire in the belly\u2019 has not cooled. His work continues to amaze.\u201d<\/p>\n

AsianWeek<\/em><\/strong>: How much of your Korean or your adoptive background gets played out in your books?
\n Chris Soentpiet<\/strong>: Being adopted has more of an impact on my illustrations than being Korean. I say that because being adopted gave me an opportunity to see the world. Before that, I only knew my childhood in Korea. When I came to America, it was a whole new experience, from Hawai\u2018i to Oregon to Alaska, then back to Oregon, and now here I am in New York. Traveling really broadened the way that I illustrate. I always wanted to expand. I didn\u2019t want to be typecast, to be seen as only as an Asian person. Being adopted \u2013 my mother is Irish\/German, my father is Dutch, and my baby brother is Hawaiian \u2013 our family feels like it\u2019s the United Nations. So I never thought about just doing Korean books. I always wanted to draw all sorts of other people. … [click here for more<\/a>]<\/p>\n

Profile<\/strong>: “Picturing the Worlds of Chris Soentpiet,” AsianWeek<\/em>, September 19, 2002<\/a><\/p>\n

Readers<\/strong>: Children<\/p>\n

Published<\/strong>: 2002<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":32335,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,62,6,38,6535],"tags":[3598,6608,97,5070,10,44,4106],"class_list":["post-2510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-author-interview-profile","category-children-picture-books","category-fiction","category-korean-american","category-repost","tag-asianweek","tag-bookdragon","tag-chris-soentpiet","tag-dear-santa-please-come-to-the-19th-floor","tag-family","tag-siblings","tag-yin"],"yoast_head":"\nDear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet + Illustrator Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/apa.si.edu\/bookdragon\/dear-santa-please-come-to-the-19th-floor-by-yin-illustrated-by-chris-soentpiet-illustrator-interview\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor by Yin, illustrated by Chris Soentpiet + Illustrator Interview [in AsianWeek] - BookDragon\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Picturing the Worlds of Chris Soentpiet No number of rejections could dampen Chris Soentpiet\u2019s determination to succeed and put his artwork forward. Even after being refused by more than 10 publishers as a fresh-faced college graduate, he continued pounding the pavement. \u201cI kept going because I wanted to eat, I needed a job,\u201d he says. Today, Soentpiet is one of the most lauded children\u2019s book illustrators. His remarkable titles include Peacebound Trains by Haemi Balgassi, So Far From the Sea and Jin Woo by Eve Bunting, and Molly Bannaky by Alice McGill. Just out, Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor is his 15th title, and his second collaboration with his wife and business partner, whose pen name is Yin. The delightful, engaging book about two young boys living in a housing project who have a memorable encounter with Santa, is based on Yin\u2019s growing up on the 19th floor of a Lower Manhattan apartment. The couple\u2019s first collaboration, Coolies, based on Yin\u2019s Chinese American ancestors who helped build the transcontinental railroad, won the Parents\u2019 Choice Foundation\u2019s Gold Award for Best Picture Book in 2001 and was named an ALA Notable Book and an IRA Children\u2019s Book Award winner in 2002. Soentpiet, who is a Korean-born adoptee, discovered watercolors in a high-school art class. His art teacher was so impressed that he secretly sent out Soentpiet\u2019s work to art schools around the country and helped him get a scholarship to the prestigious Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. Soentpiet thought he might be a commercial artist until he met illustrator Ted Lewin, who encouraged him to illustrate children\u2019s books and the rest, as they say, is history. \u201cThat was nearly 10 years ago,\u201d says Lewin, \u201cand his \u2018fire in the belly\u2019 has not cooled. His work continues to amaze.\u201d AsianWeek: How much of your Korean or your adoptive background gets played out in your books? Chris Soentpiet: Being adopted has more of an impact on my illustrations than being Korean. I say that because being adopted gave me an opportunity to see the world. Before that, I only knew my childhood in Korea. When I came to America, it was a whole new experience, from Hawai\u2018i to Oregon to Alaska, then back to Oregon, and now here I am in New York. Traveling really broadened the way that I illustrate. I always wanted to expand. I didn\u2019t want to be typecast, to be seen as only as an Asian person. Being adopted \u2013 my mother is Irish\/German, my father is Dutch, and my baby brother is Hawaiian \u2013 our family feels like it\u2019s the United Nations. So I never thought about just doing Korean books. I always wanted to draw all sorts of other people. ... 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Even after being refused by more than 10 publishers as a fresh-faced college graduate, he continued pounding the pavement. \u201cI kept going because I wanted to eat, I needed a job,\u201d he says. Today, Soentpiet is one of the most lauded children\u2019s book illustrators. His remarkable titles include Peacebound Trains by Haemi Balgassi, So Far From the Sea and Jin Woo by Eve Bunting, and Molly Bannaky by Alice McGill. Just out, Dear Santa, Please Come to the 19th Floor is his 15th title, and his second collaboration with his wife and business partner, whose pen name is Yin. The delightful, engaging book about two young boys living in a housing project who have a memorable encounter with Santa, is based on Yin\u2019s growing up on the 19th floor of a Lower Manhattan apartment. 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His work continues to amaze.\u201d AsianWeek: How much of your Korean or your adoptive background gets played out in your books? Chris Soentpiet: Being adopted has more of an impact on my illustrations than being Korean. I say that because being adopted gave me an opportunity to see the world. Before that, I only knew my childhood in Korea. When I came to America, it was a whole new experience, from Hawai\u2018i to Oregon to Alaska, then back to Oregon, and now here I am in New York. Traveling really broadened the way that I illustrate. I always wanted to expand. I didn\u2019t want to be typecast, to be seen as only as an Asian person. Being adopted \u2013 my mother is Irish\/German, my father is Dutch, and my baby brother is Hawaiian \u2013 our family feels like it\u2019s the United Nations. So I never thought about just doing Korean books. I always wanted to draw all sorts of other people. ... 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