Kathleen Choi on Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival

In this post, we feature author Kathleen Choi. You can hear her speak about her new picture book, Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival, co-written with her mother, Sook Nyul Choi, and illustrated by Il Sung Na. You can also try her “invitation to imagine” activities and find other resources to explore. Thanks for joining us, and let us know what you think in the comments below!

Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival

Written by Kathleen Choi and Sook Nyul Choi, and illustrated by Il Sung Na
Published by Red Comet Press
Release date: August 12, 2025

Su-Jin’s “halmoni” (grandmother in Korean) is excited for the Korean holiday of Chuseok. She is watching the moon grow larger each night. Celebrated on the day of the Harvest Moon, Chuseok is a time when her family will gather, give thanks, and share in a very special feast. It’s the biggest holiday of the year—often referred to as Korean Thanksgiving. Su-Jin is excited, too. She wants to share the holiday with her friends Maddy and Keisha, who are curious to learn all about it. So, the three girls decide to help Halmoni get ready for the celebration. Traditional foods are prepared, gifts are wrapped in a special way, games are played, and customs like gratitude and remembering ancestors are honored. The friends learn how to wish each other a happy Chuseok in Korean, and they look forward to sharing the American traditions of Thanksgiving with Halmoni. Featuring vibrant illustrations from award-winning illustrator Il Sung Na, this tender picture book celebrates Korean traditions and multi-generational love.

An interior spread from Giving Thanks with Halmoni, featuring three girls pointing at a buttery round moon outside the window.

An interior spread from Giving Thanks with Halmoni, featuring a crowded table filled with festival foods and smiling guests sharing dishes.

Explore Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival

Listen to Kathleen Choi talking with TeachingBooks about creating Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival. You can click the player below or experience the recording on TeachingBooks, where you can read along as you listen, and also translate the text to another language.

Invitation to Imagine

TeachingBooks asks each author or illustrator on our Virtual Book Tour to share a writing prompt, a drawing exercise, or just an interesting question to spark curiosity and creativity. Enjoy the following activities contributed by Kathleen Choi.

Imagination Activities with Kathleen Choi

Gratitude Moon Drawing

Imagine the big full moon on Chuseok night, shining bright in the sky. On a piece of paper, draw a big circle for the harvest moon. Inside the moon, write or draw one thing or one person you are especially thankful for. Around the outside of the moon or below it, add drawings of people, food, or traditions that make you feel grateful. Hang your ‘thank-you moon’ somewhere in your house.

If Your Food Could Talk…

Think about your favorite food to eat with your family and friends at holiday time. Now imagine if your favorite food could talk! What story would it tell about being made, shared, or eaten? Write a short story or draw a comic showing your food’s adventure. Would the dumpling be shy or outgoing? Would the rice cake be proud, serious, or silly? What would it say at the dinner table?

Finish This Sentence . . . with Kathleen Choi

As part of our Virtual Book Tour, TeachingBooks asks authors and illustrators to complete short sentence prompts. Enjoy the response from Kathleen Choi.

“A surprising thing I learned while working on this book was…”

While working on this book, I had fun learning about moon names like the Strawberry Moon, the Wolf Moon, and the Corn Moon. Have you heard of them? These nicknames come from Native American, European, and Colonial American traditions, and they match what’s happening in nature. For example, strawberries ripen in June (Strawberry Moon is the full moon in June), wolves howl in January (Wolf Moon is in January), and corn is harvested in September (Corn Moon is in September). Learning about these traditions made me realize that people everywhere, in many cultures, looked up at the same moon and found special meaning in it.

“A favorite question from a young reader is…”

How old is Halmoni? She does so many things and is so busy!

“I hope our book encourages young readers to think about…”

I hope that our book may encourage kids to think about traditions that they love and would want to always keep in their lives, to be curious about other people’s traditions and customs, and to think about the similarities and differences.

Thank you!

To wrap up this Virtual Book Tour, we thank Kathleen Choi for signing a book for all of us.

The title page of Giving Thanks with Halmoni, signed by the author, Kathleen Choi, with the message, "Happy Chuseok! Happy Celebrations!"

More Connections to Kathleen Choi and Giving Thanks with Halmoni: Celebrating Chuseok, the Korean Harvest Festival

Explore all of the titles featured in the TeachingBooks Virtual Book Tour: one link with author interviews, lesson plans, activities, and more!

All text and images are courtesy of Kathleen Choi, Sook Nyul Choi, Il Sung Na and Red Comet Press and may not be used without expressed written consent.