Yangsook Choi grew up in Korea. She started drawing at age 4 and loved telling her grandma scary stories. After moving to New York to pursue her art, she has written and illustrated many books for young readers. Her books have been acclaimed as "Best of the Best" by the Chicago Public Library, included on the American Library Association Notable Books List, and have received the International Reading Association's Children's Book Award.

Her past jobs include waiting tables at a Korean BBQ restaurant, flying as a flight attendant, handwriting a message on a life preserver, and drawing tiny pictures on fake nails.

When she is not creating, she loves to spend time with children in her community and around the world. The local children in a shelter, the mountain children in the Himalayas, the Bedouin children in the Arabian desert, the orphans in flooded Cambodia, and the North Korean defector children are among her greatest teachers.