The Inspiration behind Habbi’s Treasures by Yoojin Grace Wuertz

Posted by CBethM on September 8, 2026 in Author Posts | Cover image: Habbi’s Treasures by Yoojin Grace Wuertz, illustrated by Dung Ho Can clothes be stories? Can stories be treasures? I wrote HABBI’S TREASURES after a conversation I overheard between my dad and my son, and the answer is: YES and YES! It was a week or two before the first day of school, and I had just done some back to school shopping for my son, Emmett, who was six at the time. I was excited to show him the clothes and have him try them on. At the time, Emmett was playing with my dad, known as Habbi (a shortened version of harabeoji, the Korean word for grandfather), and he was emphatically not interested in trying on the clothes. In fact, he pitched a bit of a tantrum. My dad, who has always loved clothes, eyed what I’d bought and said, “Wow, Emmett, you’re so lucky. Look at all these new clothes you have. Look at these new pants. When I was a boy, I never had so many new clothes. In fact, I had one pair of pants– the pants from my school uniform. I wore those same pants proudly every day.” Photo caption: My dad in his middle school uniform, 1968. That stopped us in our tracks. Emmett said, “Habbi, how come you on...