Anne Y.K. Choi is an educator I came to know through The FOLD as one of the stellar moderators on many thought provoking panels. She is also a teacher in the York District School Board and Once Upon An Hour, illustrated by Soyeon Kim is her first picture book. A beautiful bedtime story about how the animals of the Korean zodiac help a little child who is searching for a healing plant to help her ill mother.

Once Upon an Hour is a lyrical journey up the mountain, down the mountain and back home again. Mountain is the benevolent figure, asking for the help of all the animals, the animals of the morning, afternoon, evening and night. I appreciate that the animals don’t jump at the chance to help the child, they are too busy with their usual business of the time of day. However, their sentiment changes when they see the child struggling and help them to pick the doraji flower and return home. Written in true storytelling fashion, it harkens back to a traditional Korean tale about how the animals came to represent times during the day.

The illustrations by Soyeon Kim are stunning. Her beautiful illustrative style of paper cut illustrations placed effortlessly together in a diorama and photographed is layered and adds movement and dynamics to the story. 

Orca Book Publishers have masterfully paired two women of Korean heritage to bring this beautiful traditional story to life. An Own Voices story to add to your bookshelf as a reminder of the infinite beauty in all the stories of the world.