Issue 28: Infinite Childhood Fun with Mika Song
Pure joy of everyday adventure as an artist and human being!
Hi KP!
Mika Song is an illustrator and a comic artist who sincerely seeks fun and joy in art, and whom I greatly respect. I met Mika during the very first book event I ever participated in as a children’s book maker in 2016 for which she created a beautiful poster. From the very beginning, I loved Mika’s art for its free and flowing movements, whimsical colors, and warmth and humor. And over the years, I learned that Mika is very much like her art - free and whimsy, warm and humorous, and solid and firm. She is an artist, a human being, and a friend I admire and trust. It took me a long time to decide how to introduce her to you. She has won multiple prestigious awards through the years with her comic books, picture books, and chapter books she doesn’t even mention in her interview, so I decided to keep it that way. You will see her personality shining through in her interview below which I have no doubt you will enjoy. Please welcome Mika Song.
Flavor of the Week: KP Q&A with Mika Song
Mika Song is an author/illustrator of award-winning children's books about sweetly funny outsiders. She is Japanese American and Filipino. Her husband is Korean. She grew up in Manila, Philippines and went to high school in Honolulu, Hawaii. She is based in Queens, NY where she has lived since she started going to college at Pratt Institute. Before her career in children’s books she held many different jobs, including most competently, as an animator for an educational kid’s website. Find more about Mika on her website here or follower her latest work on her Instagram here.
Introduce yourself more personally in 2-3 sentences.
I make children's books about sweetly funny outsiders. I enjoy visiting schools and making comics with kids!
Where are you from?
I’m from Queens.
No, where are you REALLY from? (Haha!)
I grew up in Manila. My parents still live there. My mother is Filipino and my father is Japanese-American (Japerican?) who moved there in the 70’s when his father started teaching as a visiting professor there.
What’s your sign?
Taurus rising Libra I believe.
How would you describe yourself in five words?
Stubborn, physical, slacker, slogger, dreamer
What’s your connection to Komerican culture?
My husband is Korean. I got an idea to make a comic about a cabbage that grows up to become kimchi and I asked him if he thought it would be appropriate culturally, given Japanese-Korean history. He said of course I should go for it and he also told me that I am Korean, too, now, which was the first time I heard. So I made the comic and showed it to him. In the comic, the cabbage grows bigger and stronger than all the other cabbages and no one knows what to do with it until a radish convinces it to become kimchi and bring peace to all mankind. I showed it to my husband and he told me that it was incredibly offensive and that I had no business drawing such a disrespectful comic. So I reminded him that I am Korean now too and that he had approved the initial idea. He explained that he thought I was going to draw an instructional comic on how to make kimchi. So I guess I am still not fully Korean.
And of course, what are your favorite Korean foods?
Naengmyeon. I also prefer the korean kim and radish now too. I enjoy jajiangmien. No idea how you spell it.
What was your childhood like and what has it taught you?
I grew up much older than my siblings and had a lot of time to myself. My parents divorced when I was pretty young and my mother moved to the U.S. during my grade school years. I went to an international school. My parents bought me lots of books. My father is a photographer and he would often take me with him on his shoots. I think my childhood taught me everything I need to do my work now.
Can you share something exciting that you’re working on now?
I’m working on a graphic novel called Night Chef about a raccoon that grows up orphaned in a commercial kitchen and has to cook her way back into the wild.
What do people underestimate about you?
I don’t think people expect me to be funny.
Share your proudest moment in the past year.
A parent telling me Donut Feed the Squirrels is the first book their kid started reading on their own is a big deal to me.
What was your hardest moment in the past year?
I have a really short memory and I don’t really remember. My husband says I should say it is dealing with my Korean husband.
We’ve all been hurt in some form or fashion. What are you healing from?
I think my childhood was lonely at times and then in high school I felt out of place.
How do you love yourself?
By following my dreams as much as possible every day.
How do you love others?
Laughing and eating
What five things can you not live without?
Walking, rice, music, people, paper
What’s your favorite dance song?
What’s your favorite kind of pie?
Apple, followed by my grandmother’s blueberry pie followed by my grandmother’s lemon meringue pie.
This Q&A was filled out online and edited for length and clarity.
H Mart Happiness: What’s your favorite product and why?
“I love all kinds of cold noodles in a package from Hmart. I always keep these instant mulnaengmyun and bibimnaengmyun in the fridge during the hot summer for a quick, refreshing meal.” - Aram K.
What’s your favorite H Mart product? Share the love and leave a comment!
Crispy Crust: A Touch of Jeong - Uplifting illustrations that delight
Are you sad the summer is coming to an end? What will you miss about summer?
Love, Aram
Korean School: 열대야 yeol-dae-ya, a tropical night that prevents you from sleeping soundly
Fun facts, idioms, translations and history
열대야 Yeoldaeya, tropical nights with high temperatures preventing one from sleeping soundly persist through the summer in Korea, especially after jangma, the monsoon season. This year, it’s being reported that we’re marking the longest streak on record for tropical nights. After many nights of tossing and turning in the heat, when you can finally start sleeping soundly without a fan or an air conditioner on, you know the summer is coming to an end. It’s a relief but also a bittersweet feeling.
Sweet & Salty: A list of the tastiest treats satisfying all the sense
Sunday HAHA is a weekly kids’ comics (but for grown-ups, too!) delivered right into your inbox every Sunday morning. Mika and Jen de Oliviera started it in March 2020 and it recently celebrated its 200 issues! It’s a compilation of comics by many comic artists and I can’t think of a better way to start every Sunday morning than reading comics from my bed. Join the newsletter now and enjoy comics every Sunday. :)
A small Independent bookstore 유어 마인드 Your Mind in Yeonhui-dong, Seoul, is located on the second floor of a quaint house. What sets this bookstore apart from others is its collection of hundreds of independently published zines, comics, and books along with thoughtfully curated art books, picture books, and artist books. This is a place where you can spend hours exploring and finding different storytellers and their stories in various formats.