Tackling Topics with Integrity and Heart: A Cover Reveal and Q&A with Kao Kalia Yang and Seo Kim

Each year in December I sum up some of the best books of the year in a series of posts called 31 Days, 31 Lists. Each list covers a different type of book for children. These topics have changed considerably over the years, but there is one in particular that is perhaps the most useful: Message Books. These are books that fulfill children’s books’ first purpose: To educate and inform. They are also some of the MOST difficult books to pull off. We’ve all seen preachy, didactic titles for kids where the text is so awash in the message that the storytelling is unable to break free. Maybe that is part of the reason why I’m so chuffed to be presenting today’s Q&A and cover reveal for Kao Kalia Yang and Seo Kim’s upcoming picture book A Home On the Page (out February 3rd with Carolrhoda Books). Here we have a tough subject tackled with beauty and grace. Or, as the publisher puts it:

“Nou loves her family, and she likes the brown house where they live, surrounded by trees with sheltering branches. But the young Hmong American girl’s sense of safety and belonging is shattered after she wakes one day to find a hateful message spray-painted on the family’s mailbox: “Asians Go Home.” So Nou asks her parents if they can leave.

Nou’s question leads her on a journey to discover where each member of her family finds home. For her father, it is in his songs. For her mother, it is in the garden. In a world that doesn’t always welcome her, where can Nou find home?

This extraordinary story from author Kao Kalia Yang and illustrator Seo Kim tenderly explores how a young girl navigates racism and ultimately turns to writing, creating a home for herself on the page—and in the world.“

And both author Kao Kalia Yang and illustrator Seo Kim were on hand to answer my many questions today. Bonus!

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Betsy Bird: Kalia and Seo! Thank you so much for taking the time to answer my questions today! A HOME ON THE PAGE is such a deeply felt story. Kalia, please tell us what inspired you to write it in the first place. Where did it come from? 

Kalia Yang: I am thankful to have such a splendid editor with ample book ideas. Carol Hinz from Carolrhoda Books has really taken the time to get to know me, my family, and the stories that I carry within. For the last two books we’ve done together, it really has been a matter of Carol asking gently, “Do you want to go here?”—and I’ve found courage in her care and curiosity, and allowed that to fuel the work on the page. This particular book began in the pandemic when Asian hate had come to the fore, and Carol knew that I was deeply hurt by the attacks on Asian Americans. As a Hmong American, I had experienced Asian hate in its variations—long before I had a name for it. Her concern gave me the opportunity to visit my first encounters with racism. I had to ask myself hard questions about how I had processed those complicated feelings and to remember the people around me who I went to for love and comfort. The result is A HOME ON THE PAGE, a story about Nou, a girl who must find a way to meet the ignorance and meanness of a world she loves, who finds a pathway to herself on the pages of empty books, a place for her stories. 

BB: Even a cursory read of this would reveal how deeply personal a story it is to both of you. For you, Seo, what was it about this particular project that appealed to you?

Seo Kim: As soon as I read the manuscript, I was transported back to my own elementary school years. Like Nou, I had moments when I felt out of place, unsure of how to be fully myself. I have a fleeting memory of sitting in a library, searching for a story or character who looked like me—and not finding one. As I read A Home on the Page, I kept thinking, This book would have made such a difference to me when I was younger. It’s the kind of book I needed—one that says, “You’re not alone.” My hope is that the art I’ve created here will help young readers feel the same comfort and recognition that I longed for as a kid.

BB: Seo, you had the additional added difficulty of having to depict a hate crime in a kid-friendly way on a picture book page. How do you illustrate something hateful on a page while maintaining the feel of something for younger readers? 

Seo: This was one of the most challenging aspects of illustrating this book. From the start, I knew I didn’t want to depict the instigators—because this story isn’t about them. Instead of focusing on the hateful act itself, I chose to illustrate the emotional impact it left behind. I wasn’t trying to obscure the message, but I also didn’t want it to dominate the visual narrative. My focus was on Nou—on her connection to her family and to her writing. I wanted to show how she finds grounding, healing, and strength in those relationships, and how she begins to build a sense of home through the pages of her notebook. At its heart, this is a story about resilience and self-discovery. I wanted the artwork to reflect Nou rebuilding her confidence, reclaiming her voice, and discovering her place in the world. And that’s what I hope readers feel most when they see this book.

BB: Kalia, along the same lines, the hate crime in this book is a message painted onto a mailbox. Far worse things happen to people in real life as well. How do you walk the balance in your text of being honest with a child about the bad things that people do to those who are different (particularly immigrants) while also keeping it age-appropriate? And how much input does your editor have when finding that balance? 

Kalia: For me, everything I write begins with a firm understanding that while love allows us the heart to adventure through the hardships of life, it is not a shield against the brutalities of an often unjust world. I want all children to know and to understand that we are all the things that have happened to us, good and bad, and that in order for us to make it through the hard times, it is important for each of us know that we are not alone in the hurting and hoping seasons of our lives. I want to meet the world in my books; I want my readers to meet it with me. The goal is to put Nou into the world I inhabited as a child, the world I know so many of my readers inhabit, where hate sometimes enters our lives and we have to live through it, find guides in others and ourselves, and surface on the other side as intact as we can be. The simple truth is that racism and discrimination never asks, “When is a kid ready to meet me?” The perpetrators of these forms of violence often don’t care. But as an adult and as a writer, I do, so each time I move into the painful and sensitive terrain of injustice, I have to ask myself, “Kalia, can you tackle this topic with integrity and heart?”—and the answer must be a trembling “yes” before I embark. Once the journey begins, I rely on the intelligence and the care of my editors to ensure that the thing on the page is a clear reflection of a world beyond me, and that it has the language to speak to others as profoundly as the story has spoken to me.

BB: You two worked together previously on the picture book A MAP INTO THE WORLD. What is it that you admire about one another’s work that encouraged you to work together once more on a book? 

Kalia: I am a huge fan of Seo’s artistry. Her relationship to the natural world very much mirrors my own appreciation of the growing things within and beyond our windows and doors. Her color palette, the ways in which the characters come to life, and the way her art washes over a page is such an immersive gift for the reader. I was delighted we could come together again in A HOME ON THE PAGE. We did such important work with our first title, and I knew we could do it again. In another sense, I think it’s a fascinating thing for readers to experience: to see a writer and illustrator growing together. In a very cool way, we are revisiting A MAP INTO THE WORLD, we are seeing how each of us are developing and changing through time, and checking in on the page once more in a collaboration that will result in something quite timeless.

Seo: I first had the opportunity to hear Kalia speak when I invited her and our editor, Carol, to visit my university after the release of A MAP INTO THE WORLD. And oh my goodness—was I floored. Kalia has a gift for telling stories that are poignant and powerful but also deeply vulnerable. And I think that energy translates so beautifully into her children’s literature. Her stories offer young readers a sense of belonging and courage. And they affirm that her readers matter and that their stories are worth telling. Kalia writes books I want my three-year-old son to grow up with. Her stories are rooted in family, memory, and identity, and they speak with emotional honesty. I feel honored to visualize those narratives and to be a part of sharing her words with kids who need to see themselves reflected on the page.

BB: Finally, what else are you two up to? What’s next for you? What projects are you excited about?

Kalia: I’ve just finished a young adult memoir, THE WAITING YEARS, and am now waiting for line edits. Next year, I have three new picture books coming: THE BLUE HOUSE I LOVED from the University of MN Press and MOMMA’S CHRISTMAS GIFT from Kokila, in addition to A HOME ON THE PAGE. I am jittery with excitement. My body of work and my contributions to children’s literature will grow. In just a week when the kids return to school, I will settle deeper into my first adult fiction, WHEN WE ARE GHOSTS. I feel very lucky to get to be a writer in these times.

Seo: I’m currently working on a picture book titled THE LEGEND OF BAN-DAL, which is slated for release in Summer 2026. It’s the first Korean story I’ve had the opportunity to illustrate, so that is exciting. The book centers on themes of sustainability and speaks to the urgent need to nurture and protect our environment—something that feels more important than ever in today’s climate crisis. In addition to my illustration work, I teach at Towson University, and there’s always a sense of renewal and excitement that comes with the start of a new semester. Another thing I am excited about: I’m so looking forward to seeing Kalia’s upcoming books!

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Such huge thanks to both Kalia and Seo for taking the time to answer my questions today. But of course, before we go any further, we have a cover to reveal!

And reveal it we shall:

Additional thanks to Carol Hinz and the team at Millbrook Press and Carolrhoda Books for helping to put this talk together. A Home On the Page is out February 3rd so just be sure to look for it then.

Filed under: Cover Reveal, Interviews