Skip to main content

Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business

 


Mindy Kim and the Yummy Seaweed Business
Written by: Lyla Lee
Aladdin, 2020. Fiction.

Second-grader Mindy Kim and her father have just moved from California to Florida to make a fresh start. Her Dad has a new job, they have a nice new house and Mindy will be starting at a new school. On the first day of school Mindy pulls out her lunch of seaweed, kimchi, rolled eggs and rice and gets a lot of attention from the kids at her table when they don't recognize the food. The next day she doesn't have time to ask her dad for a different lunch so she decides to make the best of it. She asks a girl named Sally if she can sit with her at lunch and when she pulls out her lunch Sally asks if she can try her seaweed snacks. Soon all the kids sitting at the table want to try some and the yummy seaweed trading ring begins.

This is a sweet story that deals, in a very kid friendly way, with some bigger issues of grief, diversity, responsibility and making and keeping new friends. The story flows very smoothly and its one that younger readers will be able to relate to. I enjoyed the little details the author added about Asian culture as she presented little tidbits about Mindy's heritage. I also enjoyed the cute illustrations. This is a great new series for younger readers who are advancing into chapter books.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Review: The Factory

The Factory By Catherine Egan New York, NY : Scholastic Inc., 2025. Fiction. 306 pages.  Thirteen-year-old Asher Doyle has been invited to join the Factory, a secretive research facility in the desert which ostensibly extracts renewable energy from the electromagnetic fields of its young recruits. But Asher soon realizes something sinister is going on. Kids are getting sick. The adults who run the Factory seem to be keeping secrets. And the extraction process is not only painful and exhausting, but existentially troubling. Asher makes a handful of new friends who help him with an investigation that turns into a resistance, which turns into...a cliffhanger! The Factory is a page-turning sci-fi with multidimensional characters, an intriguing plot, and refreshingly straight-forward writing. Egan weaves in detail about climate crises and social unrest, making the story's dystopian setting feel rich and plausible. With its sophisticated themes and accessible storytelling, I would recomm...

Review: A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall

A Strange Thing Happened in Cherry Hall By Jasmine Warga New York: Harper, 2024. Fiction. 211 pages. A painting has been stolen from the Penelope L. Brooks Museum and sixth-grader Rami Ahmed is worried he's the main suspect. His mother works at the museum as the lead custodian and Rami spends a lot of time hanging out at the museum while she works. On the day the painting went missing, the only people there were the security guard Ed, the cleaning crew, and Rami. Then, a mysterious girl appears in the museum. She floats around from room to room and only Rami can see her -- and she looks exactly like the girl from the missing painting. To prove his innocence and help figure out who the floating girl is, Rami partners up with an aspiring sleuth at school named Veda and the two dive into unexpected situations as they try to solve the mystery. This is a cozy mystery that is focused mostly on characters and ambiance and only a little on the mystery itself. Don't read this book if yo...

DISPLAY: The Day of the Dead

Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is a lively holiday that is observed in Mexico and some other Central and South American countries each year in November. It honors and celebrates family members past and present. Celebrate Day of the Dead with Paper Crafts By Randel McGee Enslow Elementary, 2015. informational Learn to make a skull mask, a skeleton candy basket, fancy cut-paper window banners, and more as you explore the important symbols of Day of the Dead. Day of the Dead  By Linda Lowery Carolrhoda Books, 2004. Informational This colorful informational book introduces the holiday, Day of the Dead, or Día de los Muertos, and describes how it is celebrated in Mexico and in the United States. Just in Case  By Yuyi Morales Roaring Book Press, 2008. Picture Book As Senor Calavera prepares for Grandma Beetle's birthday he finds an alphabetical assortment of unusual presents, but with the help of Zelmiro the Ghost, he finds the best gift of all. Ghosts...