First thing Monday morning, October 19th, award winning illustrator and author, Taeeun Yoo, spoke with Westfield Friends children from her home in Seoul, South Korea. Westfield’s One Community, One Book selection for summer 2026 was The Trouble With Giraffes written by Lisa Mantchev and illustrated by Taeeun Yoo. Westfield students, in cross-grade books, discussed the book in an opening of school assembly.
Carrying the theme of the book into their lives at school, they identified obstacles to full participation in our school community. The middle school students then brought to the administration the most named challenges. One identified was the height of our sinks and drinking fountains. As a result stepstools were added in the bathrooms and drinking fountains identified by our younger students. Students also asked for more help for younger friends to learn our many community songs sooner so that they could join more fully in our Meetings for Singing.
In preparation for meeting with Taeeun, students worked together to prepare a set of questions which became the focus of the presentation.
These questions included
- Do you still have images you created when you were in elementary and secondary school?
- Did you go to university to study art or work with a master artist to improve and grow?
- What was that like?
- How did you get connected with Lisa Mantchev?
- What is the process for working with a writer like Lisa?
- Is your process different when you work on the cover art for a book like Wrinkle in Time when the author has died? (By the way, we read your reissued version of Wrinkle in Time in 5th grade.)
- Had you read any of her books before you became their illustrator?
- What is your favorite animal?
- How does being Korean shape your approach to your illustrations? Would a book written by a Korean children's author have a different feel to the illustrations?
- The Time Quintet books are written for older children than The Trouble with Giraffes, does that change how you approach your work?
- Do you have a favorite page from either Strictly no Elephants or The Trouble with Giraffes?
From her answers, children learned that it can take over a year from when she receives a manuscript to when her images are ready to be published. Children were surprised she had not met Lisa Mantchev before she illustrated Strictly No Elephants. They were fascinated to see her process for deciding on the elephant and the color palette and the many elements that are a part of illustrating. She shared images from her sketchbooks and shared how she became an illustrator by sharing early and finished illustrations for her book The Little Red Fish.
During the assembly Q&A, she was asked about what AI might mean to book illustration and she shared that “writing children's books is not just about writing a perfect story. It often involves author's personal experiences, memories, childhood, and various ideas. And we can use A.I. to outline the story but it is still the writer's role to convey a message that comes from the heart. Illustration is also the same. A.I. can create an image quickly and at a certain level of quality. But we can still find something more special from what the author and illustrator create.”
Thank you Taeeun!
