The day we adopted Oscar (8 weeks) – together with my husband, Kjetil 
Emil found his favourite hiding place under Mummy’s wheelchair 
Emil’s habit didn’t change much when he grew bigger. 
Blissful moments with Oscar 
Oscar is not supposed to be on the sofa, but hey, Daddy’s not home!
“Nine years after a brain haemorrhage left her paralysed and with diminished vision and hearing, B.K. Chu is finally fulfilling her childhood dream of writing and illustrating her own books for children”
B.K. Chu was born in Seoul, South Korea in 1974.
The youngest of two children, both she and her brother studied in England. She graduated with a degree in English literature and philosophy from the University of Bristol before going off to work, travel and study further in France, Mexico, Honduras and California. She also worked as one of the two Korean editors for FIFAworldcup.com, FIFA’s official website for the 2002 FIFA World Cup in Korea/Japan™. She found much happiness in meeting people from all cultures and learning languages. The fun and joy she experienced during this period form the cornerstone of the Youngho and Chadori trilogy.
She eventually moved to Norway, where she got married. Only six months after the wedding, however, she was diagnosed with a brain tumour. A brain haemorrhage days before the operation meant she ended up with half her body paralysed. She also lost most of her hearing in one ear, and her vision became impaired.
She spent six years in rehabilitation, having to relearn everything from scratch – to breathe, eat, talk, sit, stand, and walk. She can now talk again albeit with a newly acquired Norwegian accent from her speech therapists.
She hasn’t given up. Indeed, she got so fed up with spending the ‘prime’ of her life just learning to walk and talk (unsuccessfully), she decided to work on her childhood dream of writing and illustrating her own books for children. With her right arm largely unaffected, she could still type and draw. Her language skills also remain intact and she still speaks five languages fluently – Korean, English, French, Norwegian and Spanish.
B.K. Chu writes in Korean and English. Youngho and Chadori is her first book.
Happy as ever, she lives with her husband and their four-legged son, Oscar (who just turned two in April 2020), in Stavanger, Norway.
Chadori is modelled after Oscar, Emil and Victor. The latter two are family dogs that have passed on. Emil had just turned three when he died of congenital kidney disease. Victor belonged to her parents-in-law.