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Diverse Books with Food, Recipes, and the Importance of FAMILY

Please welcome Aram Kim with a diverse books with food (and recipe) book list. You might remember her from last year’s #ReadYourWorld Book Jam 2017 series here. It’s actually how we met her here at Multicultural Children’s Book Day.

We became big fans of her work, and asked her to create our poster for this year’s event, and she kindly agreed! Aram Kim talks about her inspiration for the poster here.

Today, we are thrilled to introduce Aram Kim’s second picture book, No Kimchi For Me.

Yoomi hates stinky, spicy kimchi―the pickled cabbage condiment served at Korean meals. So her brothers call her a baby and refuse to play with her. Yoomi is determined to eat kimchi. She tries to disguise it by eating it on a cookie, on pizza, and in ice cream. But that doesn’t work. Then Grandma shows Yoomi how to make kimchi pancakes. This story about family, food, and a six-year-old “coming of age” has universal themes, and at the same time celebrates Korean culture. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

 

 Diverse Books with Food (and Recipes) 

1. Hot, Hot Roti for Dada-ji by F. Zia, illustrated by Ken Min

Aneel enjoys his grandparents’ visit, especially his grandpa’s fairytale-like old stories from India. This book intertwines contemporary Indian-American life, traditional Indian lifestyle, great storytelling, and intergenerational bond over stories and food. It is a great mixture of everything! [picture book, ages 4 and up]

2. Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, illustrated by Kristi Valiant

Cora is the youngest and always stuck doing a “kid’s job” in the kitchen while her big brothers and sisters do a cool job. When Cora is in the kitchen with her mom alone, she finally gets to do a grownup job and plays a big part in cooking a delicious Filipino noodle dish pancit! Readers can feel the excitement of little Cora and follow her delightful journey. *Recipe included. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

3. Jalapeño Bagels by Natasha Wing, illustrated by Robert Casilla

Pablo helps out in the family bakery and picks an item to bring to his International Day at school. The bakery carries his mom’s various Mexican sweet bread and his dad’s Jewish bagels and challah bread. All kinds look delicious to Pablo, but he finally picks jalapeño bagels that seem to represent himself. The story carries multicultural fare effectively and deliciously. *Recipes included. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

4. Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, illustrated by Ho Baek Lee

A simple story of a girl helping her mom making supper – bee-bim bop! – is cheerful and joyous. Linda Sue Park’s song-like text is very rhythmic and a big delight to read. Warm illustrations without much adult presence make you feel like you are looking from the girl’s point of view. *Recipe included. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

5. This is How We Do It by Matt Lamothe

Following seven children, all from different countries, the story explores how kids eat, sleep, play, go to school, help out at home – so simply, their lives. Albeit very simple, the story is full of dynamics coming from various cultural backgrounds and families. Very fun to see all kinds of food and lifestyle. Photos of actual models of children in the story is a nice bonus. [nonfiction picture book, ages 4 and up]

6. Pizza Day by Melissa Iwai

A boy and his dad cook a pizza on a nice sunny day, with fresh ingredients from their back yard. A companion to the author’s previous book Soup Day, this book explores the boy and the father’s step-by-step home-cooked pizza recipe. Easy to follow, the story leads to the yummy ending and the author’s pizza recipe. *Recipe included. [picture book, ages 2 and up]

7. Apple Pie Fourth of July by Janet Wong, illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine

Told by a Chinese-American girl who is unhappy because her parents are cooking Chinese food to sell in their store on the fourth of July, this feisty and endearing story explores the children’s mind ever so efficiently. Who, as a kid, hasn’t felt that one’s parents are doing it all wrong? But the girl finds out something surprising at the end that makes readers smile. [picture book, ages 4 and up]

8. No Kimchi for Me! by Aram Kim

Yoomi likes Grandma’s Korean food but doesn’t like one thing – stinky spicy kimchi. Her older brothers tease Yoomi because they think only big kids can eat kimchi and Yoomi is a baby. Yoomi tries to prove that she is not a baby by eating kimchi but keeps failing until Grandma steps in to help. Together, they cook a yummy kimchi pancake that everyone can enjoy! *Recipe included. [picture book, ages 3 and up]

About The Author

Aram Kim is a children’s book author/illustrator and a book designer. She was born in Cincinnati, raised in South Korea, and currently lives in New York City. A graduate of the School of Visual Arts in New York, Aram debuted with Cat on the Bus which was included in the ILA Children’s Choices 2017. Aram Kim’s new picture book, No Kimchi For Me!, about family, food, and a six-year-old “coming of age” has universal themes, and at the same time celebrates Korean culture. A Junior Library Guild selection.

To learn more about Aram, please check out her website, Twitter and Facebook.