With a great rhythm and rhyme Bee-Bim Bop takes a family from grocery store to table for a delicious Korean meal. This books sends a positive message about kids being involved with the preparation of food and being enthusiastic about dinner. Its repetitive phrases will make it appealing to younger listeners, but it’s longer and more involved than Dim Sum for Everyone and will stretch to interest slightly older audiences too.
As a special bonus, it includes a recipe for bee-bim bop at the end which is kind of adorably addressed to kids. It’s broken up into tasks for “you” to do and ones for “a grown-up” to do. Super cute! But now I’m hungry and there’s no good Korean food near me!
Religion – The family says grace before eating.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
My love of Grace Lin’s chapter books is well documented elsewhere on this blog. And believe me, any of the Year of the Dog series is deserving of a place in this months food extravaganza. The descriptions of food in those books are completely mouth-watering.
Dim Sum for Everyone is the most basic kind of picture book, introducing dim sum to little readers. The pages are filled with brightly colored illustrations and very simple text. Towards the end is a two-page informational spread on dim sum. My favorite pages though are those that illustrate and label little dishes. Oh my mouth waters!
This is definitely for your youngest reader-eaters and will slip by quickly for those in possession of a short attention span.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – None.
Profanity – None.
Death, Violence and Gore – None.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – None.
Frightening or Intense Things – None.
I’ve made bi bim bop with the recipe in that book, and it’s really good!