Spotlight on Robin Ha

Robin Ha is a Korean American author and illustrator and if you don't know her work yet, you'll want to check it out. Earlier this year, I reviewed The Fox Maidens over at Rich in Color. It's quite a fun graphic novel especially if you like Gumiho stories. This reminded me that I had also enjoyed Robin Ha's graphic novel memoir, Almost American Girl. I figured I should find her comic book cookbook Cook Korean! as well. There was a copy at the library and I read through it, chose some recipes, and got ready to cook. 

First, I made Pan Fried Tofu. It was relatively easy and quite tasty. The illustrations are super cute and the instructions are clear and easy to follow.

The Rice Cake Soup took longer, but the recipe was also quite easy. Later, I did add an ingredient that isn't in the photo. I dropped in some mandu and that made us all quite happy. 

The Spicy Bok Choy was also simple enough to make and was also a delight to eat. We cook bok choy quite often, but usually it is served fairly simply with a broth or chopped up to add to another dish. The sauce was yummy. 

The Braised Daikon with Saury was very new to us. We've only ever had daikon in a pickled form so it was different to experience it cooked. Also, I had never heard of that kind of fish, but I thought had seen it on the shelves at the local Korean market so this was a good excuse to give it a try. Our market did have it so we were in luck. 

When I was finished making this dish, we had extra daikon left over so the next day I made some quick pickled carrots and daikon because that is one of my favorite side dishes. That wasn't in the cookbook, but I had used this recipe from My Korean Kitchen before and did it again.

I appreciated the engaging way that Robin Ha illustrated the recipes and it was cool to learn about the process of making the book with her mother's input. My family also really enjoyed the wonderful food we had as a result of this book so to Robin Ha I say 감사합니다! 

Here is a video of the author introducing her illustration process. 

Here she talks about Cook Korean!

 

Origin Stories Podcast with Jarrett J. Krosoczka

Review: A Costume for Charly

Title: A Costume for Charly

Author: C.K. Malone

Illustrator: Alejandra Barajas

Publisher: Beaming Books

Review copy: Final copy via publisher

Availability: On shelves now

Summary: Trick-or-treat! Non-binary Charly must think outside the box to create the perfect Halloween costume: one that represents both their feminine and masculine sides. 

Halloween is always tricky for Charly, and this year they are determined to find a costume that showcases both the feminine and masculine halves of their identity. Digging through their costume box, they explore many fun costumes. Some are masc. Some are femme. Some are neither. But all are lacking. As trick-or-treating looms, they must think outside the box to find the perfect costume--something that will allow them to present as one hundred percent Charly.

*Our Thoughts: We are excited to see this book out in the world and are glad to have bi-gender representation for young readers. It's great that it exists and we are hopeful that many people will have the chance to read this delightful and enjoyable Halloween story.

Before even getting to the text, the illustrations are super fun. They are bright and cheery and the endpapers full of bats are top-notch. Charly's facial expressions support the text wonderfully. Altogether, the illustrations really add a lot to the story.

We appreciate the blurb on the back that says, "Charly is searching for a Halloween costume that reflects their whole self." That reflection is the goal for Charly, but also for readers. 

The alliteration and word pairings like "fangy delight" add a brightness to the story and will be sure to generate smiles. 

Recommendation: Get it soon. This is a great addition to any collection for young people especially around Halloween. 

*One of my adult children also read the book and shared some thoughts with me.