In Cherokee, the word for boy or son is “atsutsa,” often shortened to “chooch.” In the children’s book Chooch Helped, Chooch is a little boy who is just trying to be helpful! Unfortunately, it’s driving his older sister crazy.
When Edutsi made grape dumplings, Chooch got flour all over the floor. And when Etlogi planted a garden, Chooch pulled the plants out of the ground.
Chooch, his sister thinks, gets away with everything.
“Chooch Helped is a sibling story,” says Andrea L. Rogers, who is herself a sibling, as well as the mother of siblings, and the author of the book. “This story is about two siblings sort of figuring out their relationship. And of course, the older one has to lead because they’re older. So they’re the mentor, but they don’t realize that until things kind of come to a head. And there’s some yelling, but then there’s forgiveness and there’s understanding.”
Artist Rebecca Lee Kunz illustrated Chooch Helped. Not only was it her first-ever children’s book, it also won the 2025 Caldecott Medal.
“It is wild and incredibly unusual and atypical,” says Kunz. “I am in awe.”
Kunz and Rogers met by chance at the Cherokee National Holiday and clicked right away. “There was stuff I didn’t have to explain,” says Rogers. “Like if I mentioned what gigging was, she knew what gigging was and she could show it.”
One night, Chooch goes gigging — hunting for crawdads — with Oginalii. They use long poles with a two-pronged fork at the end to dig around in the water. Chooch helped by playing with a crawdad in his hand.
“My sister and brother did not use the gigging forks to catch crawdads,” laughs Kunz. “They would just use their hands and then they would put them in the fire and cook them alive or dead. Not sure which.”
Kunz says she tried to evoke a lot of Oklahoma — where both she and Rogers are from — with her illustrations. “I just love the summer evenings with fireflies. And the sunsets in Oklahoma are very soft,” she explains. “I think of that warm color palette, earth tones… And because it’s a story of warmth and of love and sibling love, those colors seemed right for that.” Kunz used many layers, some collaging, painting, and a lot of line work to create the illustrations. It’s a technique that she uses in her fine art, and worked to adapt for the kids’ book. “It creates a lot of depth,” says Kunz.
Andrea L. Rogers says she sees Chooch Helped as a universal story. “A lot of us do have cultural traditions, which it takes a while for children to be able to be involved in,” at least in a way that’s less messy, she says. If kids aren’t involved in their culture from the beginning, then they won’t be invested when they grow up — but it takes patience. In creating this book, Rogers thought about when her own kid helped make grape dumplings. Like Chooch, she got flour everywhere. But, Rogers says, “even though I wasn’t thrilled with cleaning up the flour, I wouldn’t trade the chance to make grape dumplings with my kid for anything.”
Transcript:
ANDREA L ROGERS: (Reading) This is the baby. We call him Chooch. The word for boy or son in Cherokee is atsutsa. The word for girl is agehyutsa, but everyone just calls me Sissy.
That’s how it begins (laughter) So…
SCOTT SIMON, HOST:
In the children’s book, “Chooch Helped,” Chooch is a 2-year-old boy who just is trying to be helpful.
ROGERS: (Reading) Edutsi made grape dumplings. Chooch helped.
SIMON: Chooch dumped the flour on the kitchen floor.
ROGERS: (Reading) Etlogi planted a garden. Chooch helped.
SIMON: Chooch pulled the plants out of the ground.
ROGERS: So “Chooch Helped” is – it’s a siblings story.
SIMON: Andrea L. Rogers is a sibling herself and a mother of siblings. She’s also the author of “Chooch Helped.”
ROGERS: And so this story is about two siblings sort of figuring out their relationship. And, of course, the older one has to lead because they’re older, so they’re the mentor. But they don’t realize that until things kind of come to a head and there’s some yelling. But then there’s forgiveness and there’s understanding.
SIMON: For our series Picture This, Andrea L. Rogers and artist Rebecca Kunz talked about how, because of their chance meeting, Kunz not only illustrated her first-ever children’s book but also joined Rogers in winning the 2025 Caldecott Medal for “Chooch Helped.”
REBECCA KUNZ: It is wild and incredibly unusual and atypical, and I am in awe.
ROGERS: Pretty much every couple of days, I tell my husband, hey, you know what? A book I wrote won a Caldecott (laughter). So – because I don’t know if I believe it yet (laughter). So…
KUNZ: Andrea and I met at the Cherokee National Holiday. She had a booth, and she was doing book signings. She was in front of a gallery where I show my work in Tahlequah, Oklahoma, and we started talking. I realized that one of the books she had written was a book I had at home.
ROGERS: She told me who she was, and I said, oh, that’s so funny ’cause I’m about to sell another picture book, and I love your work. I’ve already sent pictures of your work to my editor this morning while I’m sitting here in front of the gallery.
KUNZ: And we just clicked and everything came together after that. It was a very serendipitous meeting.
ROGERS: From there, she did some sketches, and I was like, this is perfect. This is – she’s amazing. And I knew that already, but I’m like, she is also the right person for this book. And part of that was also there was stuff I didn’t have to explain. Like, if I mentioned what gigging was, she knew what gigging was, and she could show it.
KUNZ: My work involves many layers. A little bit of collaging. Some painting. A lot of line work. I start with one layer and then I add layer on top of layer, and I add and subtract things as I go. I start with a color and a texture, and then I add another color and a texture on top of that, and sometimes the layers and textures are somewhat translucent. And then I collage in different elements. I draw part of it, and then I paint over that. And so it creates a lot of depth. This is a technique that I have developed over many years with my fine art. It just took some time to translate my style into work that would work for a children’s book.
ROGERS: I love Rebecca’s night scenes. There’s the bicycle one where he’s tuning it up, and it kind of looks like it’s sunset. You’ve got fireflies. And so I love that sky. And then the gigging scene – gigging for crawdads at night, which is, you know, something that a lot of people do, and something we used to do. It’s just going out and hunting for crawdads at night. So you’re moving rocks around, and you can also gig for frogs or gig for fish. And so there’s a really long pole. Traditionally, a blacksmith would have made sort of a fork, and then it goes on the end of a really long pole so that you can, you know, reach things in the deeper water that you can see but maybe can’t get to.
KUNZ: My siblings (laughter) – my sister and brother did not use the gigging forks to catch crawdads. They would just use their hands. And then they would put them in the fire and cook them (laughter) – alive or dead.
ROGERS: (Laughter).
KUNZ: I’m not sure which. And so I was trying to pull out a lot of Oklahoma in this because when I go back to visit, I just love the summer evenings with fireflies, and the sunsets in Oklahoma are very soft. And when I think of Oklahoma, where they’re from, where we’re from – Andrea and I – I think of that warm color palette – earth tones, warm colors. I wanted a lot of light and sun. And so those colors kind of came to me naturally when I thought of the characters in the story. And because it’s a story of warmth and of love and sibling love, those colors seemed right for that.
ROGERS: The drawings, they are warm. It’s like Frankoma Pottery made with the red clay, right? And so, to me, this is a very universal story. I thought about, you know, when my kid helped make grape dumplings and the kitchen was totally covered in flour afterwards. Even though I wasn’t thrilled with cleaning up the flour, I wouldn’t trade the chance to make grape dumplings with my kid for anything. And so I was thinking about the things that we experienced in our lives and how we all make food. And a lot of us do have cultural traditions, which it takes a while for children to be able to be involved in in a way that’s less messy. And so – but if they’re not involved from the beginning in their own culture, then when they grow up, they’re not going to be as invested in their own culture. And so there has to be patience and grace on the part of everyone in a family for the family to work together.
KUNZ: I think, for me, this book speaks a lot to kindness and care. And I think we need more of that than ever right now, and children need to see that and feel that. And tenderness is still OK for boys and girls. And we can have disagreements and still love each other and care for each other.
SIMON: That was Illustrator Rebecca Kunz and author Andrea L. Rogers talking about their Caldecott-winning children’s book, “Chooch Helped.” And for more conversations like this one, you can head to npr.org/picturethis. Our series is produced by Samantha Balaban.
(SOUNDBITE OF CORY WONG’S “AIRPLANE MODE”)
