Chris K. Soentpiet (born January 3, 1970, in

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

) is a Korean American children's book illustrator and author. He was born in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

, in 1970. At age 8, he moved to

Hawaii Hawaii ( ; ) is an island U.S. state, state of the United States, in the Pacific Ocean about southwest of the U.S. mainland. One of the two Non-contiguous United States, non-contiguous U.S. states (along with Alaska), it is the only sta ...

to live with his adoptive family. A year later, the Soentpiets relocated to

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

. Soentpiet currently lives and works in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. ''Around Town'', a picture book written and illustrated by Soentpiet, marked the artist's debut in 1994. Today, Soentpiet is recognized as an award-winning illustrator in the children's book industry. His books have received numerous honors, including, but not limited to, the International Reading Association Teachers' Choice Award, NAACP Image Award, Parents' Choice Gold Award, Parents Magazine Best Children's Book of the Year, North Carolina Children's Book Award, Georgia Children's Picture Book Award, International Reading Association Notable Children's Book for a Global Society, and

ALA Notable Book American Library Association Notable lists are announced each year in January by various divisions within the American Library Association (ALA). There are six lists which are part of the larger ALA awards structure. * ''ALA Notable Books for Adu ...

. Soentpiet is active on the school visit circuit. Soentpiet's research for the picture chapter book ''Peacebound Trains'' (author: Haemi Balgassi) took him back to his country of birth,

, for the first time since his adoption in 1978. In 1996, Soentpiet won the Society of Illustrators Gold Medal for his paintings in ''Peacebound Trains''. The United States Department of Defense published an online edition of the book and featured it, complete with a ''Teacher Activity Guide'', on the ''United States of America Korean War Commemoration'' site. ''Peacebound Trains'' is the only book to receive this honor. On his official website and a number of interviews, the artist credits Ted Lewin and

Betsy Lewin Betsy Reilly Lewin (born May 12, 1937) is an American illustrator from Clearfield, Pennsylvania. She studied illustration at Pratt Institute. After graduation, she began designing greeting cards. She began writing and illustrating stories for c ...

for encouraging him to pursue a career as a children's book illustrator.

Awards and honors

Three of the books Soentpiet illustrated are

Junior Library Guild Junior Library Guild, formerly the Junior Literary Guild, is a commercial Book sales club, book club devoted to juvenile literature. It was created in 1929 as one of the enterprises of the Literary Guild, an adult book club created in 1927 by Samue ...

selections: ''So Far from the Sea'' (1998), ''Coolies'' (2001), and ''Brothers'' (2007). The

Association for Library Service to Children The Association for Library Service to Children (ALSC) is a division of the American Library Association. ALSC has over 4,000 members, including children, experts in children's literature, publishers, faculty members, and other adults. The Associa ...

has named three of the books Soentpiet illustrated as Notable Children's Books: ''More Than Anything Else'' (1996), ''Molly Bannaky'' (2000), and ''Coolies'' (2002). In 1995, the ''Smithsonian'' named ''The Last Dragon'' by Susan Miho Nunes among the year's Notable Books for Children. Soentpiet's books have also received the following accolades:

Books

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References

External links

Chris Soentpiet Official Website

''Peacebound Trains'' on the United States of America Korean War Commemoration WebsiteThe Dragon Lode: "Conversations with Yep and Soentpiet - Negotiation Between Cultures"

Media

* ttp://www.soentpiet.com/young-art.htm New York Daily News: "Children's Book Artist is a Medal Winner"br>Korean Quarterly: "Evoking History with Art"
{{DEFAULTSORT:Soentpiet, Chris American people of Korean descent Living people American children's book illustrators 1970 births