Helena Ku

Rhee

Award Winning Children’s Author

Bestselling Author

Travels from: Los Angeles, CA

“Helena Ku Rhee crafts a layered, loving picture book tribute to family and the sacrifices that parents make for their children’s future…Pascal Campion’s blurry lines and the watercolor-like shadows that follow the characters bring to mind the parallel world of kings and queens.” — Shelf Awareness, starred review

Helena Ku Rhee is an award-winning author of books for kids and the young at heart. Her latest book, Sora’s Seashells, won a 2024 Ezra Jack Keats Award Honor for Writing. Her bestselling book The Paper Kingdom was included on many year-end Best Books lists, including NPR, BookPage, Kirkus, Parents Magazine and the Los Angeles Public Library, among others. It was also featured on Good Morning America, Entertainment Weekly, and ABC–TV. Helena is also the author of Rosa’s Song, The Turtle Ship, and Shoes Off, Please (forthcoming 2025).

Helena is also an essayist and her essays have appeared in The Los Angeles Times, The New York Times and Salon.

Helena is currently based in Los Angeles (her hometown), but she has also lived in various parts of the U.S., Asia and Europe. She loves to travel far and wide across this beautiful planet, counting among her favorite journeys a camping trip in the Sahara, a swim with elephants in Thailand and a horseback-riding tour of Easter Island. She draws story ideas from her travels as well as her childhood.

Listen to Helena’s moving 6-minute interview on NPR.

Helena Ku's Featured Titles

From Dreamer to Author

In an engaging and interactive discussion, Helena will share her background and how she became an author. While taking the audience through an entertaining journey through Helena’s childhood through a series of images, she will also weave in her most personal book, The Paper Kingdom. She will read from the book while giving insight into the book-making process, including working with the illustrator. She will also discuss how the book was inspired by her childhood, when her parents worked as night janitors in Los Angeles. On nights her parents couldn’t find anyone to watch her, Helena accompanied her parents to work, where they turned drudgery into magic. Helena will discuss how the power of imagination can turn the mundane into something amazing.

Writing Workshop

Helena enjoys fostering creativity, and combines energy with moments of quiet contemplation in an interactive session for aspiring authors. By incorporating examples from her award-winning book Sora’s Seashells as well as providing writing prompts, Helena will guide a group of writers through the writing process – from generating ideas, developing characters, to forming a writing routine. Get ready to write and to be inspired!

Book Reading + Q&A

Select one (or two) of Helena’s books, and she will read from the book while giving an in-depth behind-the-scenes look at how the story came to life, and how she (and the illustrator(s)) made storytelling decisions. A lively Q&A will follow, so get ready to ask your pressing questions about books, writing & publishing!

Writing & Publishing Children's Books

If you’re a grownup (parent, teacher, librarian, etc.) who would like to write a children’s story and get it published by a traditional publishing house, this session is for you. Helena will guide you through selecting an idea to develop into a story, and will give an overview of the traditional publishing process for children’s books. You’ll walk away with a good sense of what it takes to become a traditionally-published children’s author — this means that she’ll also address something that all authors wrestle with: rejection! Helena’s goal is to inspire her audience, so she will share her personal journey of dealing with the ups and downs of writing and publishing.

Keynote

Helena has given keynote speeches at various functions for a wide range of organizations, including literacy & teaching conferences as well as attorney & professional functions. As an author, essayist and former attorney, Helena is adept at incorporating pressing current issues into her talk, and can work with event organizers to address specific themes or concerns in her presentation.

“I really enjoyed having you at Seoul Foreign School. Honestly you were one of my best author visits during my 20 years at SFS. The kids still talk about you.”—Janet H., (School Librarian, Seoul Foreign School)

“You did a great job with the kids and your presentation was amazing! You are definitely operating within your life’s calling.”—Romondo L. (Administrator, Los Angeles Public Library)

“Just had to send a huge thank you for your visit today! Your presentation was so engaging, relatable and motivational – it was awesome to see the class so excited and eager to ask questions. You beautifully and effortlessly wove everything together, and I’m pretty sure you inspired a bunch of future authors.”— Diane U. (Parent, Darien Schools, Connecticut)

Curriculum Guide for The Paper Kingdom

Helena’s Events and Visits

Helena’s Blog

Helena’s Articles and Interviews

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Ezra Jack Keats Award Honor (Writing) for Sora’s Seashells

Praise for The Paper Kingdom:

A Best Book of the Year by:
-NPR
-KIRKUS
-PARENTS MAGAZINE
-BOOKPAGE
-LOS ANGELES PUBLIC LIBRARY
-AMAZON
A #1 Indie Bestseller
An Indie Next Pick by the American Booksellers Association
Featured on NPR, ABC-TV, Entertainment Weekly, & Good Morning America
Optioned by a major motion picture studio (not publicly announced)

Media clips

NPR | Behold: The Magic of Take Your Child to Work Night

Salon | Making sense of a senseless world: How children’s books can mitigate the horror around us

Salon | “Too Bad You Were Born a Girl”

Los Angeles Times | Op-Ed: How my Korean immigrant parents taught me to pursue my own version of the American Dream

Media Kit

By clicking the link below you will be directed to a Google Docs Folder
where you can download author photos and cover images.

Rhee

From Dreamer to Author

Writing Workshop

Book Reading + Q&A

Writing & Publishing Children's Books

Keynote

Honors, Awards & Recognition

Media clips

Media Kit

Similar Authors

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