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P.138 Hanna Cha Caldecott Honor Award-Winning Illustrator and Writer & Illustrator
30 Plays3 days ago
Hanna Cha, a Caldecott Honor award-winning illustrator and writer known for her enchanting storytelling through art. Hanna shares her journey from a vagabond life between Seoul and the U.S. to becoming the creator of beloved books like *Tiny Feet Between the Mountains* and *The Truth about Dragons*. Learn about her creative process and what inspires her whimsical illustrations. With insights into her experiences at the Rhode Island School of Design and life in Boston with her cuddly cat Hobac, Hanna invites you to explore the magic of daydreams and the stories they can create. Tune in for a delightful conversation that celebrates imagination and artistry!
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Transcript
Introduction to Hannah Cha
00:00:00
Speaker
All right, welcome back, everyone, to another episode. As always, I'm very excited for my guest today. um We just had a little bit of a conversation before we popped on, so I'm not gonna say too much about her, but can you introduce yourself?
00:00:16
Speaker
Hello, everyone. My name is Hannah Cha. I'm a Korean American storyteller who also illustrates and writes um right now mainly children's books. So far, I have illustrated a few books, The House Before Falling Into the Sea, Truths About Dragons, Circle Round, and I wrote and illustrated Tiny Feet Between the Mountains. Let's go. Let's go. Let's go. Hannah, I am such a fan of your work. um And I've kind of seen the progression in regards to, um you know, the first book to Truth About Dragons. um And before we get into Truth About Dragons, this is a question that I've asked and mostly all of my podcasts. um Tell me about Little Hannah.
00:01:09
Speaker
Oh, little Hannah.
Multicultural Upbringing and Identity
00:01:11
Speaker
So for me, I was born in South Carolina, but I don't remember much because i since then I've been moving around a lot with my parents. My dad at the time was studying in the States, which meant I'm going to like different laboratory or like university that would accept them as like a student. So I moved around a lot.
00:01:34
Speaker
I lived mostly in my childhood in Texas and then I moved to Korea for five years wow or until middle school and then finally moved back to Maryland for high school and then went to Rhode Island for my college and then now settling in Boston for five to six years now. So who knows? I might jump away somewhere else.
00:02:01
Speaker
Wow. i am so I mean, I knew this about you, but I think that is so interesting um because I teach internationally. And a lot of these kids go back and forth from different states to different countries. And I always find these kids so interesting. Sometimes we call those kids third culture kids because, you know, they experience so much. And they go through so many different um school systems. But can you talk about your middle school experience? You said you spent a lot of your middle school in Korea. um yeah What did that look like? It's very
00:02:43
Speaker
I first I really like the term third culture because I think I never heard something that encompassed something so well because it really is like a weird interdisciplinary between two cultures and you make it your own.
00:02:58
Speaker
So actually, I actually i should declare, I Korean until like just the start of middle school. So it's more like now thinking about it elementary, third grade to middle school. but But it was the most informative time of my years because I think that's when you start like developing more interesting cultures and languages. And I think that in five years, just kind of rooted my, helped me root that I'm Korean because I was just in the culture but also it's the most confusing time of my life because I'm speaking English and I was very blessed for all this experience in America but in Korea at that time too, it was like around the 2000s, it wasn't that common to have like a very fluent English speaking
00:03:50
Speaker
um Korean looking child showing up in elementary school. So definitely it made me actually actually pretty introverted. And when I came back to the States, I found that was actually like more closer to extrovert. It's a very interesting like how the cultures also shift your personality. I'm probably rambling a little bit going back and forth.
00:04:18
Speaker
I am describing a little bit like that's how it feels like you're just thrown into this world that it says it's yours and you look like it. But because of your childhood experience, experience so much other freedoms, and so many different cultures, there's like this backlash of like, am I like good enough? And then later becomes a conversation of whether you're good enough for like either America or Korea. Wow.
00:04:44
Speaker
I totally understand that because that is a exactly what a lot of my kids talk about. I teach third grade, but I've had experience with upper grades in middle school, and they really find challenging of fitting in, specifically kids who don't look um North American, whatever that is. yeah Right? Because America is the most diverse. Exactly.
00:05:15
Speaker
ultruized but any yeah those those kids are it's so it's so interesting because it's a it's an english speaking school but all the kids are technically like eal where they're like learning english um but majority of them come in speaking english and I do wonder, like, what does that look like when they go um back to their home country, whether that is Korea, whether it is, you know, we have kids from all over the place and they don't sound the same. They don't speak the language the same because one of the things I'm noticing is that what their parents are doing, which I think is incredible, I think it's incredible, is that they are also studying
00:06:01
Speaker
their home language or being asked to speak their home language at home. And I mean, I know it's a lot of work because the kids always complain about like, i mean just use obvious languages but I do think that is um so important for a kid to be able to speak in their home language as well as English or whatever other language that they're they're working on. So I totally understand what you're saying and that is very difficult, very, very difficult.
Artistic Growth at RISD
00:06:26
Speaker
Yeah. um I want to talk about RISD just because it's so, I mean, working with OK, and then literally, I mean, maybe five or six days ago, talking to Gracie. um There's something about these RISD kids, like,
00:06:43
Speaker
what What is it? like what What is it about um RISD? um what What got you there? And what are some of the experiences that kind of shaped who you are as a as an illustrator? I think this is...
00:06:59
Speaker
I think RISD, at least for me, what I loved about it was when I was in freshman year, they don't hone you into just one major. So you get to experience all sorts of different interdisciplinary classes from like 3D, 2D, and you kind of more explore how your creative process is even before you get to a major that you really like.
00:07:26
Speaker
But it also helped me always think, oh, then I can always get back because you try a medium. It's a little bit less of a hurdle to try and go back to it if you ever want to do it again. And I chose illustration because I knew I love stories, that one I knew for sure. And it seems like a good middle ground between connecting with people through stories that are a little bit more familiar.
00:07:52
Speaker
while not being too fine artsy and like really focusing of your inner world and like trying to um connect people for them to reach out to you. I feel like illustration is a little bit more, you're reaching out to the people and you're creating a conversation, at least that's how I see it. And I think at that time, illustration is more about, or for RISD, we had really great teachers who focused on children's books and just um just storytelling in general. um I love that. I think that I love that everyone across the board, I mean, it's only been three of you, but I feel like that's a chunk has talked about yeah great teachers um and teachers who really love what they do.
00:08:39
Speaker
And yes, there is always a thing about people staying too long. um But at the same time, at the same time, there is something rooted in that in regards to if they are still producing amazing um talent and you know, guiding them on a path that is like successful and they're still loving what they're doing. I think that says a lot about who they are as teachers and educators. I asked this question to um Gracie as well, and I'm curious what you're going to say is, was there a specific experience, um a lesson or teacher, um and you don't have to name them, at RISD that has influenced you ah in regards to the work that you do?
00:09:24
Speaker
um Definitely. I'm trying to condense this. um
00:09:34
Speaker
o Sorry, can you repeat the question again? I'm thinking I was thinking a lot about your time there. And I know that during your time you would have met tons of amazing educators who influence what you do. um Was there a specific educator or teacher that um you would say really influenced like who you are as a illustrator or a specific like experience that you would have had through a lesson or an activity that has really shaped um or even like shifted your mind a little bit about how you create um what you do?
00:10:14
Speaker
Definitely there are a few teachers who helped me with that. But I think is because I when I got into illustration, I had this preconception of what it should look like. But um ah as I meet these teachers and they also worked in the industry, they helped understand like this is also a business. You're also your own brand. There needs to be a drive. But also.
00:10:38
Speaker
um just there is a connection of people and ah you're going to be working with a lot of people so they help kind of ground that those ground rules to me because kind of i feel like every art student that shows up into any institution. They are chosen in a way because the institution wants them. So they're just they were in their own pond, and they go to this institution. Now they're in like a river or like, who so you're already, you're so focused on yourself. You're also
00:11:15
Speaker
Basically, I found these institutions helped me converse and be able to helped me able to talk about my work too and be open. I used to be too close to the heart with a lot of my works to a point that it can be kind of like secluding.
00:11:31
Speaker
I think the teachers helped me equipped me with the vocabulary to talk about my work without getting too heard about it and being able to develop past it. Yep. And that is and that's can be so hard. And again, I always think about the kids that I have, and I teach eight, nine-year-olds, but like the ability to take like the ability to take feedback is like a skill.
00:11:55
Speaker
It is a skill. That's not something that you are just born with. I think it takes practice in regards to listening. And actually, you can listen and then not take the feedback or listen and want to take the feedback but not know what to do. There's so many layers to being able to take feedback and implementing that into new work or new
Creative Process and Inspirations
00:12:18
Speaker
learning. And I'm glad that that was something that you were able to to take from your experience.
00:12:23
Speaker
um Your work is so dreamy. It is so bright and so vibrant. um and um i have to I mean, we have to talk about the truth about dragons a little bit. So some of my favorite spreads, and I wrote them down. There's a couple of them. um One of the spreads is ah kind of about, it's like two dragons, one's like blue, one's red. And I think on the page it says something about um
00:12:54
Speaker
both journeys are yours to take or something like that. Oh, yes. Yes. um I love that page so much. I love that page so much. Can you tell me? I'm so happy. I mean, it's it's just such a, I mean,
00:13:09
Speaker
Just the way that you're able to manipulate colors and bring life to a page is fascinating. um Can you tell me about your creative process a little bit? um Because it's so dope. It really is.
00:13:24
Speaker
this book was really like a dream project for me because for a while I've been I love fantasy but of course I was worried of will I be a little bit pigeonholed to being Korean culture artist but someone did you know, took the chance on me and I was like, it's all or nothing. I really need to show what I love from Fantasies. And I took this as a project and because I love mixed medium, I tried to use that as my advantage. For the Western Dragon, I actually used only ink nibs and watercolor brushes for that section. And for the Eastern Dragon, I used so many ink brushes that I brought from Korea. Wow.
00:14:08
Speaker
And I am happy that it all like it was able to keep my style so it's not too jarring between the two dragons. But I do love like the integrity that the materials sometimes keep in the artwork.
00:14:25
Speaker
um And for that spread, it's very interesting because because children's books is such a long project. It takes about like sometimes a year or even two. I needed to make sure that there's, and when you're working that long, your skill level increases. Sure. And you need to make sure that the beats hit consistently. So for me, I knew some parts of the book that needs to be really good. So I kept them in the middle part of my work schedule. So for a lot of the spreads that I deem like it can be experimental and figuring out my vibe or how I want to do it. I'll do those spreads in the beginning. And then as I go to the middle where i' most excited and I feel like I am in my like I don't need to rush.
00:15:15
Speaker
Like, this is the perfect time to work on it. I'll find those beats that I really want to work on. And the spread you just talked about is that one. So I'm happy. That means it hits. And I did a good job. It does. Oh, my God. It is. Those of you who haven't read it, I mean, it's just stunning. I can see it in... I can just see it blown up somewhere, like in a frame. And just like the way that it pops off of the page is just...
00:15:44
Speaker
It's just incredible. It's just it's it's it's really, really incredible. So thank you. And yeah it's so interesting. I think Oge has mentioned this as well. There are certain pages that you feel like you can just jump in and, you know, they're a little bit what the ones that you're most excited about. It is so fascinating because when I look at illustrations and sometimes oftentimes now I'm looking at them as um as a writer and it's like all the pages are incredible. It's like oh that one you I mean I get there are certain pages in a book that are supposed to strike you know feelings and influence and all those things but
00:16:22
Speaker
this book. truth I mean, you you really did an incredible job with each and every page. Yeah. For me, yeah. Biggest respects for writers though, because for illustrators, I think of the image first, but the writing comes so much later. So the fact that there are creatives who thinks in words first I think is so brave because for me I already know what things look like but everything else feels so vast so to choose like a poetic word that can encompass what the art is trying to say I think is also I have bigger respects for people who are just writers I mean, yeah, like, and but you do it you do do both of them. You do. Technically, you do. like ah You do. and it's there um There's proof.
00:17:17
Speaker
true is true ah So, Eddie, you have a furry friend. Do you still have a furry friend? I do have my furry friend, probably sleeping somewhere. Tell us about your furry friend.
00:17:33
Speaker
So I have a cat named Hoback and um I actually got him right after college and it was one of my biggest buckets list because I love pets and I love animals. But my mom just is terrified. It's not even allergy. She's just very terrified what anything with fur And I remember me and my brother being like, but we have hair. it should be Why aren't you scared of us? I was like, I don't know. I'm just scared. So basically after that, I was determining determined to get like a cat. And I'm just happy that he landed in my life. Funny story is he's from my professor. Wow.
00:18:13
Speaker
My professor was walking her dog and she was coming back and realized, huh? And the shell was something like scurried in her house with her dog. And I was like, what is it? And it was like a little kitten. That was her dog. And this kitten was first very young, but still like just loved humans. But at the time they had a cat, kind of like an elderly cat who just was like, no, I do not want this kitten. my house and was just like beating the kitten up to a point a professor was like to her previous students is there anyone who will love who's in a cat and I just like raised my hands um and like the chat as much as I can it's like please please let me have I'll be such a good and and a key word to that person so that professor's now that cat's a god parrot that's incredible yeah incredible so how long have you had the cat for?
00:19:10
Speaker
Now, like five to six years and still acts like a kitten. But I forget how old he is and I was like, oh, middle age. ah He's a middle age man.
00:19:23
Speaker
I'm not. ah I mean, I used to be a really big pet person kind of. I had dogs growing up. Never really was a big cat person. um But since I've been abroad, I don't know if it's by choice, but it's also just hard to travel with animals.
00:19:39
Speaker
it is very true right so we've been living in a lot of different countries and i see not the horror stories but just like the trouble that people have with transitioning with animals or when they have to go out of the country like they have to get babysitters and like all the stuff and i was kind of like yeah and no and it's a lot it's definitely an event for Which is totally fine. It was just totally fine. um But I think for us right now, we haven't had a pet. But I do. I really do like animals. I definitely do like animals. So you only have one.
00:20:20
Speaker
only have one definitely because if we do happen to travel it's easier with one of course ah of course. We haven't tried international travel with him yet but he's definitely good with cars and all the such but I love having a cat because it helped me be observational in a way. Yeah, because I was so familiar with dogs, e like my grandparents had dogs, and their gestures and everything is so clear. But with cats, it helps. I guess it helps that I'm also very observant. So just seeing just a little gestures, I can tell like, Oh, he doesn't like this very just like,
00:21:04
Speaker
just accused and finding that rhythm is very soothing for me with a cat. I like that. I like that.
Cultural Mediation through Storytelling
00:21:12
Speaker
I have a question for you. I have this question written down. um It's long, but it shouldn't be too difficult. yeah wordss yeah So the question was, yeah your work explores nuance and cultural identity and family and immigrant experiences. like How have you has your own experiences um of navigating between different cultures and form the way that you approach storytelling?
00:21:41
Speaker
I think in a way because I think about this so much. This is the easy question. I see like being like that third culture, like you said, he makes me someone who's like in between a translator or even a mediator. So what happens and I think somehow that links to how I'm pretty observant. It's probably because I've been trusted into different cultures and I wanted to do both cultures so well I end up observing like okay what is theme normal here and what is acceptable like in Korea.
00:22:19
Speaker
America. And then I am also thankfully like blessed with parents who taught me the language. And I think because I have good relationships with them, it made me want to work harder to retain my Korean language. So I'm still really fluent in writing, speaking,
00:22:37
Speaker
and talking in Korean. So my favorite pastime is to find like, okay, what words are in Korean that they don't have in English? And what is it that actually takes a really long time in Korean, or even though there is a word, it's not quite right. And, and that kind of thinking space helps me navigate in my works of like,
00:23:06
Speaker
for art is more like what are people used to seeing? um canon What do I need to explain more in my art? But thankfully right now where I am, Korea has been pretty prolific in like a lot of people's lives. I'm very thankful that people are used to some of my culture, humble like the clothing or the even the food. I'm so happy people are accepting it. ah Because when I was younger definitely was not the case yeah but now can talk about it and people are open to it so I can go one step further or can do a little bit more of a deep dive into the deeper parts of Korea without needing to explain it too much that the story gets convoluted. I love that. I love that and I guess you may have already answered the question so from my end as a writer
00:24:02
Speaker
my writing is sent out to the illustrator. What types of stories like spark your interest or get you excited um about illustrating?
00:24:14
Speaker
ah For me, it's writing that I can see that I can take to another next step because for writing is you're creating like a space like an atmosphere for the art to reside and I'm thinking what can I add detail wise to just really almost ornate the text to bring it out more and also like adding my personal experiences to it. I'm thinking a little bit more of I think my recent book that came out is The House Before Falling Into the Sea. And this book is where the writer's experience of opening her mom's experience, opening up her house to um
00:25:05
Speaker
immigrants or fleeing refugees when Norse was coming down to the south area. And I found out while working on this book, my grandma was actually one of the refugees. Oh my gosh. the down to All the way to Pusan too. Some people like stop at different places, but she went all the way to Pusan. So I was like,
00:25:26
Speaker
I asked her story and her perspective and what she enjoyed, even though the whole situation. um And I found like, oh, I can add a little bit more of the hopefulness or what she found enjoyable. She loved that she was able to be around.
00:25:45
Speaker
um children her age, which I thought was very interesting. Where she was, she was just with adults and she was like the only kids and there weren't many kids running around. But through this traumatic experience, in a way, she was able to be with more kids that she could talk to. And she got the opportunity to learn actually, because there were schools also fleeing with them. So they had makeshift tent schools. So she got the education she probably wouldn't have gotten if without the war. So it's just interesting how, because we have two different experiences, we can make a better product. Okay, not a better product, it a better story. Yeah. Yeah. If you feel connected, it makes me think about
00:26:29
Speaker
the story that I did with Oge and I'm from Canada from the east coast. She is from um Providence and it's so it like she said she read the story and she instantly connected to it and it's like I'm this little black boy from Preston Nova Scotia and she lives in this other place in America but she somehow was able to make connections to a lot of experiences. She says she thought about her brother. She's thought about family. I feel like that must be one of the big things for illustrators. like
00:27:03
Speaker
what can they connect with in regards to their own experiences that they can easily start to think of ideas of what those images may look like. um And you do a phenomenal job of that. You do a phenomenal job. yeah And I can say like I'm from then that explains why that story is so beautiful too because I love that story so much. Thank you. Thank you. Your words and own face pictures just combine together. Now it explains it.
00:27:33
Speaker
Yeah, it it really does. It really does. um And where can people find you online? ah You can find me at www.hannahchaw.com. Thankfully, I got that domain. um that But for my other socials, they're all the same, but it is HannahUnichaw.
00:27:55
Speaker
for um I'm mostly on Instagram. I technically do have a Twitter account, but I don't really use it as much. But I try to keep all my social presence in HannahUnichaw.
00:28:07
Speaker
Without the H, people. Without the H. Without the H. And Hannah, you spoke recently about a book that just came out. um And if you're open to, and I'm very always very cautious about this question, because I get it about just like the pressures of writing and all the things, but sure can you share the book that most recently came out? And if there is anything that you would also like to share in the future?
Latest Works and Historical Connections
00:28:37
Speaker
So the recent book is House Before Falling Into the Sea, and it is a story about, um sorry, let me see. It's so beautiful. I don't know why I'm blanking out.
00:29:06
Speaker
Okay, yes. Sorry, one more time. So it's, called um House Before Falling Into the Sea and it's about the time of Korean War. And you follow this girl named Kyung and her story of how her family opens up their house to their refugees fleeing the war that's approaching, approaching from the north. And it's her experience of this conflict of um meeting new people, this new situation. um And as a kid trying to navigate this really conflicting reality that suddenly befalls her, but also finding hope at the end. And it's written by Ansu Kuang. And the fun part is that
00:29:57
Speaker
This is actually inspired based on a real experience that her parent had. And I found out through working this project that my I am also from a refugee family who was fleeing from the north. Wow. Actually, both my grandmas, but my one grandma from my dad's side is the one who came all the way to Busan. So somehow, they might who knows, they might have connected. there might There's some connection there.
00:30:24
Speaker
Uh huh. Storytelling is so powerful. It is so powerful. It's so cool how two story or one story can connect another story that can connect another story because what's going to happen? This is what this is what picture books do to people. Someone will read it. They will make a connection. They will give that book to someone else. They'll make a connection and just continues on. That's what I love about picture books.
00:30:48
Speaker
And I'm so glad that you're finding that in stories. um And it was so much fun talking to you. Let's please do this.