by Samantha White
Northwest Asia Weekly
Kiri Schwiethale with her book “ABCs of Cambodia”. (Photo courtesy of Kiri Schwiethale)
About a year ago, Kiri Schwiethale found herself at a crossroads, thinking about how to share her Cambodian culture with her two children.
Her husband suggested buying a children’s book. At the time, Schwiethale was preparing to participate in 36 Days of Type, a challenge for designers, illustrators and graphic artists to “express their particular interpretation of the letters and numbers of the Latin alphabet,” according to its website. A graphic designer by training, Schwiethale initially thought about challenging his own creativity. But at the suggestion of her husband, she combined her desire to share her legacy with her sons and daughters, then 4 and 3, to create “ABCs of Cambodia”.
Schwiethale’s son was also learning and beginning to recognize the alphabet, so a picture book that uses the alphabet to highlight different aspects of Cambodian culture was a way to learn about his alphabet and background at the same time. For the book, Schwiethale, 29, also translates the words into Khmer — including the word written in the Khmer script, as well as its English pronunciation.
Page ‘E’ of the ABC of Cambodia (Courtesy of Kiri Schwiethale)
The Port Angeles resident is funding her March 14 launch of the book on Kickstarter (tinyurl.com/mtt2wskn). The event ends on April 15th at 11:59pm, the last day of the Cambodian New Year. Her goal was to raise $16,700, which she hit in about two weeks. As of press time, the campaign has raised over $26,000. After reaching her goals, Schwiethale added stretch goals to the campaign, which included donating copies of the book to partner organizations in Cambodia, an online pronunciation guide, and adding numbers to the book when the campaign hits certain financial goals.
Schwiethale estimates that backers will receive their books in November, though she hopes it will be sooner.
home input
Schwiethale has always been interested in art. Growing up in Cambodia (visiting Seattle regularly), her mother would take art classes and share what she had learned with Schwettal. Her interest in design grew after being exposed to pirated Adobe Photoshop. Hands-on experience as a child turned her interest into a passion she pursued after settling in the Pacific Northwest, studying visual communication at Seattle Pacific University.
In creating the book, Schwiethale had to strike a balance between challenging the children’s artwork, but also composing the images in a relevant way. She consulted with her son and daughter, who shared their favorite letters with her. The “H” stands for his hammock (“ung rrung” in Khmer) and the “N” for her noodles (“kuy-teav” or “mee” in Khmer). Schwiethale’s favorite is the “S” for houses on stilts (“pteah” in Khmer) because it brings back memories of visiting family in the Cambodian countryside.
“I really like [the stilt house] It turned out to be just a small picture of the Cambodian countryside,” she said.
To get more feedback, Schwiethale brought sample pages from the book to her family’s 2021 Thanksgiving gathering. She said her older relatives were inspired and excited to see her bringing their Cambodian heritage to life in different ways.
“We’re interpreting culture in a new way,” Schwiethale said of her generation.
Reviews of the book by some of her relatives are included on the Kickstarter page. An uncle praised her work, calling the book “very good,” while an aunt was more critical, saying, “I don’t think Jasmine looks like that.” Although Schwiethale was initially reluctant to share the content, people told her , they enjoyed reading her family’s reactions to the book.
Although Schwiethale learned the basics of reading and writing Khmer from her father and from high school, she turned to her mother when she wrote “ABCs of Cambodia” to make sure she spelled it correctly in Khmer. In addition, her mother helped her understand the cultural nuances and details contained in Schwiethale’s books.
“My mom has always been an invaluable asset,” she said, adding that it was also great to talk about Cambodian culture with her mother, as her face glowed when she shared. “Really neat.”
Cambodian culture for the community and beyond
Page “N” of “ABC of Cambodia” (Courtesy of Kiri Schwiethale)
In reading each letter, Schwiethale must really consider what aspects of Cambodian culture. There are some obvious choices, such as the “A” of Angkor Wat, the iconic ancient temple and Cambodia’s national symbol. But others took some time to reflect on her childhood, thinking about what made her life in Cambodia different from her life in the United States — and what made her special.
For example, she decided to choose banana leaves as “B” after receiving some nom ansom (sticky rice cakes wrapped in banana leaves, usually sweet with banana or savory with pork inside) from her mother. Schwiethale was excited to share the cake with her kids, which made her realize she wasn’t sharing enough of the culture with them. Nom ansom also reminds her of American snacks wrapped in plastic and compares it to the resourcefulness of Cambodian people and their ability to use available resources.
“The ABCs of Cambodia” may be a tool for second-generation Cambodian Americans to connect with their culture and share it with their own children, but it’s also a book that increases Cambodian culture’s exposure to those outside the community. Big things happened when science fiction and fantasy author Brandon Sanderson donated to Schwiethale’s Kickstarter campaign and was mentioned on his site.
“This means a lot to us,” Schwiethale said, adding that Sanderson’s mention brought his fans to her page and helped her exceed her fundraising goals.
Samantha is available at info@nwasianweekly.com.
