Aimee Yealim Lee is a Korean American picture book author who grew up in Seoul and now lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and two boys. Before writing for children, she worked in brand marketing and arts management, and wrote about children’s creative education. Motherhood inspired her to write stories that celebrate everyday wonder. Aimee writes with humor, heart, and hope, creating stories that offer young readers the same comfort, courage, laughter, and sense of belonging she found in books as a child.
For Aimee, books have always comforted her and allowed her to dream. The world in books was limitless and good stories spoke for her which were life changing. She didn’t have many toys, but had thousands of books instead, thanks to her mom who was also a writer. Books were her playground and her best friend. She especially loves the world in picture books. She believes they touch all our senses through the very personal conversation with the readers, leaving room to think, connect, and embrace. She thinks words in picture books are like soothing music, dynamic plays, and a comforting smell. That’s the magic and power of picture books that she fell in love with. She wants to devote herself to bring and enhance such wonderful experiences to all children through unconventional storytelling based on her multicultural background and authentic voice. She believes one good book can change every child’s life just as it did for her. She hopes that she can empower children to embrace their emotions and every child deserves at least one book that perfectly speaks to them. So, she writes stories with humor and heart to reach that one, maybe two or more readers (if lucky) with much imagination.
She has a dream of making a children’s garden in the heart of a city where all children can freely come and grow their imagination in nature. Also, she plans to build children’s libraries all over the world to make sure every child has access to good books and hopes to inspire them to have unlimited dreams.