Chalk + Ink: Season 1, Episode Three

Interview with Kindergarten Teacher and Children's Book Author, Tina M. Cho

Welcome back for the third episode of Chalk and Ink, the podcast for teachers who write and writers who teach.  Meet kindergarten teacher and children's book author, Tina M. Cho. In addition to over 200 leveled readers, Tina is the author of Rice from Heaven: The Secret Mission to Feed North Koreans, Korean Celebrations, The Ocean Calls: A Haenyeo Mermaid Story, My Breakfast with Jesus: Worshipping God Around the World and a lyrical graphic novel slated for 2023 newly renamed as The Other Side of Tomorrow.

In this episode, Tina talks about Oprah teaching moments, sentences that flow like music and female Korean deep sea divers called Haenyeo.

During our chat, I reference these blog posts that feature Tina:

Beth Anderson's Blog: "Mining for Heart through Bonding & Back Matter"

Kidlit 411: "Author Spotlight: Tina M. Cho"

Tina mentions this post where she dives deep into lyrical writing:
Grog: "How to Write a Lyrical Picture Book: A Self Study"

We also mentioned two Holocaust graphic novels. I named What the Night Sings which is a young adult novel by Vesper Stamper and Tina mentioned Hidden: A Child's Story of the Holocaust by Loic Dauvillier.

According to Tina, every elementary classroom should have the following books:

Dozens of Doughnuts by Carrie Finison because what elementary teacher doesn't want a book about doughnuts, math and sharing?!

Be Kind by Pat Zietlow Miller because teachers are always looking for ways to model kindness in and out of the classroom.

The Invisible Boy by Tracy Ludwig because it's about a boy that people don't see because he's not as cool as the other students. At the end, people play with him. In the beginning of the book, the boy is illustrated in black and white because he's invisible. But by the end, the boy is illustrated in color like everyone else. Also, Tina likes this book because it has a reference to Korea. Finally, I'd like to say that this book is one of my current fourth grader's favorite books.

​Happy listening!