Little Golden Book's First K-Pop Bio Takes BTS From Dreams To Stardom

Forbes

20-05-2025

BTS are the world's biggest k-pop band and they also have one of the world's most loyal fandoms, the many millions of global fans called Army. During the course of their very successful career BTS have earned many accolades—including Billboard Awards, American Music Awards, People's Choice Awards, Golden Disc Awards and several Grammy nominations—but 2025 is the first time the band will grace the cover of a Little Golden Book. Younger readers will be able to enjoy a bio of the k-pop band when BTS: A Little Golden Book Biography is released in the fall.
It's fitting that the bio was written by Jan Ann, a children's book writer and longtime BTS fan. Ann was introduced to the band by her daughter, who has been a BTS fan since 2013.
'It was 2018, we were watching the Billboard Music Awards where they won the top social artists and performed 'Fake Love' for the first time,' said Ann. 'After that I thought, well, they're really amazing. So I started watching all their music videos and their performances and dance practices and live streams. They have so much content. And then we saw them in concert in 2019 during the world tour, the Love Yourself: Speak Yourself tour.'
Something about the performers' personalities and the way they interacted with each other really resonated with Ann. There's a lot she likes about k-pop in general, but BTS is now her favorite band and holds a special place in her heart.
'I love that k-pop is just such a visual medium,' said Ann. 'Well thought out concepts for everything. With BTS, there's just a unique style and an aesthetic for every song that they have. And sometimes they'll even have more than one concept for a song. It's so fun to see what they'll come up with next. I love their interactions with each other, their individual personalities, their sense of humor and all their content, such as Run BTS and In The Soop. And that's not even counting their amazing performances. The choreography that they have is so powerful.'
Ann liked the band so much she wanted to share their story and considered ways to write about them for younger readers. One option was the Golden Books imprint, under Penguin Random House, which publishes biographies about interesting people from diverse backgrounds. Other Golden Book bios include Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, Rihanna, the Beatles, Caitlin Clark, Simone Biles, Billy Porter, Michelle Yeoh, Carol Burnett, Jane Goodall, Jimmy Carter, Oprah Winfrey, Audrey Hepburn, Pope Francis, Chappell Roan and the Kelce Brothers. While the imprint published biographies in the past, the series really took off in 202o with a book about Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg. The 2025 bio roster also includes books on Michael J. Fox, Serena Williams, Cher, and Rosa Parks.
'When I saw the biographies," she said. 'I thought that would probably be perfect.'
Her biography follows the journey taken by BTS members RM, Jin, Suga, J-Hope, Jimin, V and Jungkook from their early days charting how they became one of the world's biggest music groups, noting the success of songs like 'Dynamite,' and mentioning career highlights, such as the time the band spoke at the UN about the power of young people to change the world. It was challenging to decide which parts of the band's event-filled musical journey to fit in such a slim volume.
'With all they have achieved, there's so much content,' said Ann. "So the book focuses on their early years, how they got their start together in South Korea and a few of the key points in their journey toward becoming the biggest music group in the world. It was hard to fit it all in, especially with the bios in the beginning with seven members. Each person gets a page. Then some of the highlights were speaking at the UN and performances such as when they first went to the AMAs in 2017 and performed 'DNA' and then how that did so well on YouTube, how many views it had. Just a few key points of so many to choose from."
Already pre-orders for the BTS bio have bumped the title to the top of the yet-to-be-published Golden Book biographies list. Could it be parents who fondly remember buying Golden Books as a child that are ordering this title? That's one possibility, said Ann.
'I think there is a nostalgia factor since so many adults grew up reading the Little Golden Books," said Ann. 'Many people have purchased them for themselves as a collector's item. Also since the age range of Army is so great —from 2 to 102—there are Army parents, grandparents, teachers, caregivers, who may want to introduce BTS to the children in their lives through a simple storyline like a Little Golden Book. And with BTS' journey being so inspirational, I think it's a positive story to share with others.'
When Ann first became a fan, BTS was just becoming popular in the U.S. As a band and as solo performers, BTS are even more successful now, but, according to Ann, they have not let success change them.
'It's amazing how humble and generous they remain, as successful as they are," she said. 'And I'm so excited for their comeback.'
By June all seven BTS members will have completed the mandatory military service required of able-bodied South Korean males. Although individual members have recently released music, the band has not performed together for a few years.
The BTS biography is the series' first k-pop bio, but it won't be the last. A biography of k-pop performers Blackpink is planned for December.
'I think BTS are very inspiring role models for kids,' said Ann. 'They worked hard to pursue their dreams and never gave up and have always remained incredibly humble and generous. And those are all qualities that would be inspiring to kids.'
BTS: A Little Golden Book Biography was illustrated by Hyesung Park, an art director at Pixar Animation Studios. The Golden Book bio hits the shelves on Sept. 2.