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. A kimchi pancake recipe and other back matter are included.

A Junior Library Guild SelectionBank Street College's Best Children's Book of the Year (2018)

A Baker's Dozen Award: The Best Children's Books for Family Literacy by the Pennsylvania Center for the Book (2018)

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2—Their grandmother announces lunch featuring delicious Korean dishes while Yoomi and her brothers play. Yoomi enjoys grandma's dried seaweed, soft egg omelets, and even the seasoned bean sprouts, but she does not like "stinky spicy kimchi!" Her older brothers, Jun and Yoon, won't let her play with them because she's too little; "big kids eat kimchi." Despite trying various ways to mask kimchi—like on pizza or over ice cream—it is the kimchi pancakes that the child and her grandmother make together that delight Yoomi. They are delicious, enjoyed by all, and elevate Yoomi to big-kid status. The Korean family is depicted as personified cats reminiscent of the feline in Kim's first picture book, Cat on the Bus. Illustrations created in pastel and colored pencil are detailed but uncluttered, expressive, and childlike. In addition to a recipe for kimchi pancakes, beginning endpapers depict the vegetables from which kimchi is made while closing endpapers show different-plated kimchi. VERDICT This fun and engaging story about food, family, and tradition is broadly appealing as a read-aloud or read-alone selection..—Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

Review

PreS-Gr 2-Their grandmother announces lunch featuring delicious Korean dishes while Yoomi and her brothers play. Yoomi enjoys grandma's dried seaweed, soft egg omelets, and even the seasoned bean sprouts, but she does not like "stinky spicy kimchi!" Her older brothers, Jun and Yoon, won't let her play with them because she's too little; "big kids eat kimchi." Despite trying various ways to mask kimchi--like on pizza or over ice cream--it is the kimchi pancakes that the child and her grandmother make together that delight Yoomi. They are delicious, enjoyed by all, and elevate Yoomi to big-kid status. The Korean family is depicted as personified cats reminiscent of the feline in Kim's first picture book, Cat on the Bus. Illustrations created in pastel and colored pencil are detailed but uncluttered, expressive, and childlike. In addition to a recipe for kimchi pancakes, beginning endpapers depict the vegetables from which kimchi is made while closing endpapers show different-plated kimchi. VERDICT This fun and engaging story about food, family, and tradition is broadly appealing as a read-aloud or read-alone selection..-Maria B. Salvadore, formerly at District of Columbia Public Library

"This fun and engaging story about food, family, and tradition is broadly appealing." - School Library Journal (starred review)

From the Inside Flap

Yoomi hates stinky, spicy kimchi. So her brothers call her a baby and refuse to play with her. But Yoomi is NOT a baby! Maybe if she tries it on a chocolate chip cookie... This "coming-of-age" story celebrates familiy, food, and Korean culture.

About the Author

Aram Kim was born in Cincinnati, raised in South Korea, and currently lives in New York City. A graduate of Yonsei University in Seoul and the School of Visual Arts in New York, Aram is the author and illustrator of Cat on the Bus, her first picture book.