Bee-Bim Bop!
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Overview
A wonderful paperback picture book about the joys of family and food, from Newbery Award winning author Linda Sue Park.
Bee-bim bop ("mix-mix rice") is a traditional Korean dish. In bouncy rhyming text, a hungry child tells of helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and sitting down to enjoy a favorite meal. The enthusiasm of the narrartor is conveyed in the whimsical illustrations, which bring details from the artist’s childhood in Korea to his depiction of a modern Korean-American family. The book includes Linda Sue’s own bee-bim bop recipe!
A child, eager for a favorite meal, helps with the shopping, food preparation, and table setting.
Synopsis
A wonderful paperback picture book about the joys of family and food, from Newbery Award winning author Linda Sue Park.
Bee-bim bop ("mix-mix rice") is a traditional Korean dish. In bouncy rhyming text, a hungry child tells of helping her mother make bee-bim bop: shopping, preparing ingredients, setting the table, and sitting down to enjoy a favorite meal. The enthusiasm of the narrartor is conveyed in the whimsical illustrations, which bring details from the artist’s childhood in Korea to his depiction of a modern Korean-American family. The book includes Linda Sue’s own bee-bim bop recipe!
Publishers Weekly
The title refers to a dish of rice, egg strips, vegetables and meat that's a staple of Korean family life-and it's a lot of fun to eat, too, because diners get to mix the parts together themselves right at the table. (The words in Korean mean, loosely, "mix-mix rice.") The title also inspires some bouncy rhymes from Park (A Single Shard), and loving depictions of the joys of being mom's sous-chef from South Korean artist Lee. First, the necessary supplies are laid in: "Hurry, Mama, hurry/ Gotta shop shop shop!/ Hungry hungry hungry/ for some bee-bim bop!" A flurry of rice-making, chopping and frying follows. The entire family, including a grandmother in traditional dress, gathers to say grace and dig in: "Rice goes in the middle/ Egg goes right on top / Mix it!/ Mix like crazy!/ Time for bee-bim bop!" Lee's characterizations don't have much texture or depth, but he does a terrific job of framing the kitchen activity from a variety of angles, so that every scene bubbles with fun and anticipation (he also frequently crops Mama at the shoulders, to keep the focus on the eager, helpful narrator). The mood is so unabashedly happy and Park's text is so catchy that any grown-up reading this book aloud should anticipate a demand to make the detailed, kid-friendly recipe for Bee-Bim Bop on the final spread. Ages 4-7. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
The title refers to a dish of rice, egg strips, vegetables and meat that's a staple of Korean family life-and it's a lot of fun to eat, too, because diners get to mix the parts together themselves right at the table. (The words in Korean mean, loosely, "mix-mix rice.") The title also inspires some bouncy rhymes from Park (A Single Shard), and loving depictions of the joys of being mom's sous-chef from South Korean artist Lee. First, the necessary supplies are laid in: "Hurry, Mama, hurry/ Gotta shop shop shop!/ Hungry hungry hungry/ for some bee-bim bop!" A flurry of rice-making, chopping and frying follows. The entire family, including a grandmother in traditional dress, gathers to say grace and dig in: "Rice goes in the middle/ Egg goes right on top / Mix it!/ Mix like crazy!/ Time for bee-bim bop!" Lee's characterizations don't have much texture or depth, but he does a terrific job of framing the kitchen activity from a variety of angles, so that every scene bubbles with fun and anticipation (he also frequently crops Mama at the shoulders, to keep the focus on the eager, helpful narrator). The mood is so unabashedly happy and Park's text is so catchy that any grown-up reading this book aloud should anticipate a demand to make the detailed, kid-friendly recipe for Bee-Bim Bop on the final spread. Ages 4-7. (Sept.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.Children's Literature
A young Korean girl is "Hungry hungry hungry for some Bee-Bim Bop." That is the refrain to this catchy, upbeat poem about a girl and her mother preparing dinner for their family. Not just any dinner, but Bee-Bim Bop, an appealing Korean dish that translates to "'mix-mix rice.'" The rhythm of this poem is irresistible and the little protagonist adorable. The illustrations convey the sense of urgency the protagonist feels as she anticipates her favorite meal. She and her mother race through the grocery store, boil rice, flip the eggs, chop vegetables, and cook meat before they set the table with "spoons and chopsticks too." Then all come running as the little girl shouts, "Hurry, family, hurry, Gotta hop hop hop! Dinner's on the table and it's Bee-Bim Bop!" There is a moment of silence as, "Papa says the grace...," before all at the table "MIX IT! MIX LIKE CRAZY! Time for BEE-BIM BOP!" Readers will wish that dinnertime at their houses could be as much fun as the one depicted in this book. The text and illustrations will broaden horizons as they help children learn a bit about Korean food in an entertaining way. A recipe for Bee-Bim-Bop is included at the back of the book with detailed, kid-friendly instructions and pictures of ingredients. An author's note and photograph with her niece and nephew are also found at the back of the book. The book jacket mentions that the author has won cooking contests and has worked as a food journalist. Her novel, A Single Shard, received the Newbery Medal. So, hurry readers hurry, gotta shop shop shop, gotta learn to make some Bee-Bim Bop! 2005, Clarion Books/Houghton Mifflin Company, Ages 3 to 8.—Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D.