I have a confession: I’m addicted to those reels about rescuing animals. That’s what drew me to today’s picture book too.

Jungyoon Huh studied child development and education in college and graduate school, and she now works as a picture book author, animation director, and university professor in South Korea. Her books have been selected for the White Ravens catalog and for the BRAW Amazing Bookshelf. Late Today is her English-language debut. You can follow her on Instagram.

LATE TODAY is a picture book about being busy. It’s rush hour traffic and no one has time to be late. Yet there is a poor little kitten scrambling between cars, trying desperately to survive. Will someone take the time to stop? The premise of the book pulls at every heartstring I have. It’s told beautifully well with tense pacing and brilliant illustrations.

Please note: I received a copy of this book from the publisher to review, but the opinions, as always, are my own.

Welcome Jungyoon!

Me: Can you share about your journey? When did you start writing?  How did that bring you to where you are now as the author of this picture book?

Jungyoon: I create picture books using 3D clay art, which I photograph and then weave into stories. I divide my time between studios in Yangyang, Gangwon Province, and Samsung Dong in Seoul, so I work both in the city and in nature. I love gathering seeds of stories and shaping them quietly at dawn or late at night.

From the window of my Yangyang studio, the vast ocean unfolds, and my dog Lulu and I often walk in the mountains or along the beach, where I continue to find inspiration.

When I was young, we had a journaling class at school where we wrote about our daily lives. Since then, writing has naturally become part of my everyday routine. I loved recording small, vivid moments—meeting a stray cat, playing hide-and-seek with friends at the playground, or the scent and stillness of the air on the first snowy day. Thanks to my mother, who worked at a publishing house, I grew up surrounded by books—from world literature and Korean folktales to biographies. The stories from those books became a kind of home to me.

One day, after graduating from college, I happened to pick up a picture book at a bookstore. As I turned the pages, the tears welled up in my eyes. At that moment, I realized that a picture book is a form of art—something that can move a person’s heart with just one sentence and one image. Since then, I began writing my own stories. For two years, I sent my manuscripts to more than a hundred publishers. After many rejections and a long wait, my first picture book was finally published in 2006.

My stories always begin with the voice of invisible beings. The core values that guide my work are solidarity, empathy, and the courage to lend a helping hand.

Because I believe picture books are the most beautiful language, I continue to sit at my desk and write.

Me: I have seen animals in the road that didn’t belong there. What gave you the idea to tell the story of a kitten in the road in rush hour traffic in a picture book?

Jungyoon: Late Today was born from a real moment when I encountered a little kitten on Seogang Bridge. During the morning rush hour, between the cars, I saw a tiny kitten curled up under a wheel–trembling in fear and struggling to survive in the pace of a busy world.

I passed the scene without stopping, hearing the impatient honking behind me. But the image of that small, fragile life lingered in my heart. Though life constantly renews itself through birth and disappearance, nothing could ease the uneasiness and regret I felt.

Since that morning, I kept asking myself: Why didn’t I stop? Why didn’t I take even one step out of the car?

Then one day, the memory resurfaced. I began to write down ten words that came to mind:  a little kitten, morning traffic, a bridge, wheels, death, life, solidarity, radio, being late, and a cry. Those ten words became the skeleton of the story. I breathed life into them, adding flesh and emotion, until they became Late Today.

While writing, I wished to bring the kitten back to life in my story—to hold it tightly in my sentences and not let that moment slip away again.

Me: You have studied child development and education in college and graduate school. Why is this a story you wanted to share with young readers?

Jungyoon: The role of a creator is to question the world. Late Today began with my own experience. Honestly, I wasn’t able to save the cat that day. The feelings of regret and helplessness stayed with me for a long time, and those emotions eventually became this story.

During my studies in child development and education, I learned how children possess a naturally deep sense of empathy. They often perceive injustice before adults do, and instinctively reach out to help small, vulnerable beings. I wanted to share this story with young readers because they are the generation that nurtures the seeds of solidarity. 

Although Late Today began with one person’s regret, it soon expanded into a shared question for everyone who reads it: Would I have stopped in that moment?

That question is not mine alone–it belongs to all of us.

Through this story, I came to realize that when we embrace one another’s weaknesses, the world can remain warm and kind. Whenever I cross Seogang Bridge, that day returns to me, and I still wish I could have been brave enough to hold the kitten, even just once.

The bridge in Late Today is no longer just a structure of metal–it has become a bridge that connects human beings and animals, regret and hope, the past and the future. Human beings cannot live alone; we must learn the wisdom of coexistence with nature and other living beings. I believe that picture books can teach us that wisdom. 

Late Today is, at its heart, a story about choice. We walk through life making countless choices—both big and small—from the moment we wake up until we fall asleep. This book quietly asks readers: What would you choose?

There is no single right answer. But I believe that the way to become a better person and build a better world is often hidden in the small, unseen choices we make when no one is watching.

Me: I love how you show the other people in traffic and their reactions. It’s very realistic and human. Was that always a part of your story? Or did it get included after revisions? How many revisions did your story need to get to its final state?

Jungyoon: When I imagined the scene of people stuck in traffic, I tried to capture their inner thoughts and feelings, and I translated those thoughts into text.

“I hope that she won’t get hurt.”

“Just this once, I’ll turn a blind eye.”

These short sentences were the voices in my own mind– and also the excuses we all make.

I asked people around me, “What would you have done if it were you?” and collected many of their thoughts, choosing the sentences that most readers could relate to. Yet, those words felt less like kind intentions and more like a record of hesitation.

While the little cat struggled desperately to stay alive, one person turned away, thinking someone else would help. Another hesitated, worrying they might be late today. I was one of them. So, Late Today became a story about the ethical choices we face every day.

I revised the story countless times after finishing the first draft. Each revision was not just about polishing the text — it was a process of answering the questions I carried within. After Myungae’s illustrations were completed, I went through every sentence once more.

A good picture book is complete when the illustrations show what is not written, and the text fills the spaces the illustrations leave behind.

Do you remember the weather forecast on the endpapers? I wrote Late Today hoping that, just like the sky clearing after rain, every cat in the world might someday find peace beneath a clear sky.

Me: The illustrations by Myungae Lee are wonderful. The combination of colored pencil and oil pastel add an unexpected softness. Were there any illustration surprises for you? Any favorites?

Jungyoon: Myungae Lee’s Late Today is a painterly work of storytelling that beautifully conveys both the architecture of space and the depth of emotion. The sequence of images in the book doesn’t simply follow the passage of time–it’s composed like a rhythm of the narrative itself. What impressed me most was how, within the confined setting of the bridge, she expanded the story across multiple dimensions by skillfully shifting perspectives between foreground and background and layering moments of tension and calm. Her illustrations draw the reader in, enveloping both the kitten’s fear and the child’s courage within a single emotional thread.

My favorite spread in Late Today is the moment when the little kitten is mewing under the car. When I first saw that image, I felt an unexpected wave of relief and joy. Seeing that small creature still there–in such a quiet, simple scene– felt like a moment that could warm the world. Another spread I deeply cherish shows a child looking down at the kitten as it safely crosses the bridge. That moment is not just an ending; it feels like a promise between two lives. That promise carries the message I most hoped to share with readers through Late Today and serves as my tribute to the kitten I couldn’t save that morning.

Me: I love that. What is one thing that surprised you in writing this book?

Jungyoon: Knowing that Late Today is now being read by readers in the U.S. still feels surreal to me. When I first wrote this story, I never imagined it would be translated into different languages. But through this journey, I’ve realized that emotions like choice and courage can cross borders to reach people’s hearts, even when we speak different languages.

The publishing process of this book in Korea felt like a journey of self-exploration, while the process in the U.S. has felt more like watching the book step out into the wider world. I’m deeply grateful to my Korean publisher, Wisdom House, and to Eerdmans Books for Young Readers in the U.S., and translator Aerin Park, who so beautifully carried the book’s literary sensitivity and emotion into English.

During the writing process, noticing the small cracks in everyday life was key. What I mean is that most days can feel repetitive, but when we spot a subtle change or a faint thread of emotion, a new story begins from there. Whenever a seed of an idea comes to me, I write it down without hesitation. That’s when the story begins to breathe and take on a life of its own.

I also learned an important lesson from this project: creating a picture book is never something one can do alone. The author, illustrator, publishers, editors, translator, and designers all breathe together to make the book, like a beautifully orchestrated piece of music. If the first sentence is a seed, the finished book is a tree nurtured by many caring hearts. And now, that tree grows again through the fingertips of readers.  I’ve come to realize that a story doesn’t end with its author–it blooms anew in the hearts of those who read it.

Me: Any advice for other aspiring picture book writers?

Jungyoon: One thing I’d like to share with anyone who wants to become a picture book author is this: now is the time. Start writing the stories that have been quietly stored in your mind. You’ll never feel perfectly ready. Write down ten words that come to you and shape them into a short story. Even a single sentence, even a scribble, is enough to begin. If you can’t draw, make a dummy book using pictures cut from magazines. A story doesn’t start from a perfect plan–it begins the moment your pencil touches the paper.

Creating a new story is always a challenge, because our daily lives look the same, and yesterday’s me and today’s me don’t seem very different. But when you look at those ordinary moments from a slightly different angle, a story quietly appears. Wonders are always hidden behind the smallest, most familiar things. The degree of artistic completeness isn’t measured by how long it took or how grand its elements are. Sometimes, a single sentence lingers in our hearts far longer than a thousand words.

I always keep walking until the story can no longer move forward. Some stories stop right in front of a wall; some leap over it and find their ending; and others take the wall down entirely. Through Late Today, I found myself jumping over that wall.

Now, I’d love to start that journey with you. That faith is what brings me back to my desk–and keeps me writing today.

That’s beautiful Jungyoon. Thank you so much for stopping by my blog today.

But wait, dear readers! There’s more! There’s also a giveaway of one copy of the book to one lucky winner (US and Canada contestants only). You can enter the giveaway here. Good luck!