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

Cooking Up a Storm

Books featuring food are some of my favorites. It's cool to see what combinations the characters try. It's especially great when there are recipes included in the book, but even when that isn't the case, similar recipes can be found online so I get busy cooking or baking either way. 

Here are some of the books featuring food that I've enjoyed during the past year or two. 

Picture Books:

Grandpa Grumps by Katrina Moore

Illustrated by Xinoi Yan

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed

Illustrated by Aneesha Syed

Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez

Middle Grade Novels/Grapic Novels:

A Place at the Table by Saadia Faruqi & Laura Shovan

Matthew Winner's Children's Book Podcast Episode (both authors)

Pie in the Sky by Remy Lai

Measuring Up (Available Oct. 27) by Lily LaMotte 

Illustrations by Ann Xu

Young Adult:

With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo

The Way You Make Me Feel by Maurene Goo

Review at Rich in Color

Hungry Hearts: 13 Tales of Food & Love

Edited by Caroline Tung Richards & Elise Chapman

Review at Rich in Color

Non-Fiction: 

Fry Bread: A Native American Family Tradition

by Kevin Noble Maillard, Illustrated by Juana Martinez-Neal

Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang

Illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz

Not Necessarily for Young Readers:

Let's Make Ramen: A Comic Book Cookbook

by Hugh Amano & Sarah Becan

Excerpt from Let's Make Ramen

Happy reading and happy eating!!

Review: Letters from Heaven/Cartas del cielo

Title: Letters From Heaven/Cartas del cielo

Author: Lydia Gil
Illustrator: Leonardo Mora

Publisher: Piñata Books/Arte Publico Press

Pages: 116
Availability: On shelves now

Review Copy: Final copy via publisher

Summary: Celeste is heartbroken when her grandmother dies. But everything changes when a letter mysteriously comes in the mail—from Grandma! “I know you miss me as much as I miss you. Don’t be sad. Where there is love, there is no sadness.” As letters continue to arrive from the beyond, each with a recipe of a favorite food her grandmother used to prepare, Celeste consoles herself by learning how to cook the dishes. Meanwhile, without Grandma’s social security check, Mami needs to get a second job to make ends meet. Celeste has to quit dance lessons, and a bully at school gloats that she will replace Celeste as the star in the upcoming recital. To top things off, her friends think that she’s gone crazy; dead people can’t send letters! When a final letter arrives, Celeste realizes that all the recipes combined make an entire meal: café con leche, guava and cheese croissants, congrí, plantain chips, ropa vieja and flan. Can she really make a Cuban feast to celebrate her cherished grandmother’s life?

A tender story of family and friendship, Letters from Heaven / Cartas del cielo celebrates Latino traditions, especially those of the Spanish Caribbean. This entertaining novel is written in ten brief chapters for children ages 8-12 and includes six traditional Cuban recipes with easy-to-follow instructions.

Review: I am a complete sucker for books that include recipes and this one has me itching to get in the kitchen. There are six recipes that together create a complete meal if one is brave enough. The description above says they are easy-to-follow, but the flan looks a bit tough to do. I will probably give it a try though.

The story itself has a little bit of everything. Celeste is grieving after the death of her grandmother, but she also has a good adult support system. There is also a friendship and bullying component. And of course, food plays a very important role. Lydia Gil provides characters and situations that are believable and interesting too. Overall, it's a story of family love and how that can be expressed and celebrated in and around food.

Early readers of chapter books will find this story to be both quick and engaging. They will likely want to try some of the recipes too. All of the recipes involve cooking so adult supervision will be necessary. Some of the recipes, like the flan, may seem a bit intimidating, but they all look like they lead to deliciousness.

As the title implies, this book has text in both Spanish and English. It's a flip book so the texts are kept separate though there are a few italicized Spanish words in the English portion. For readers who don't know Spanish, the words are almost always easily understood through context, but even if they aren't, major plot comprehension issues won't be likely.

This is a great early chapter book for any young readers. I definitely recommend it especially for libraries looking to include books from a variety of cultures.