The Brainstorm Plus: Brainstorm 233: Asian Foodie Reads

Today is Lunar New Year/Chinese New Year so I thought it would be a perfect time to give you a list of Asian foodie reads.

Amy Wu and the Perfect Bao by Kat Zhang, ill. by Charlene Chua

Amy is excited about making bao with her family. She is a little disheartened, though, that Grandma, Mom, and Dad can make perfect bao and hers always have some issue. Can she finally get it right?

Target Readers:
Fans of Problem Solving Stories, Bao Lovers, Family Story Fans, Picture Book Readers

Bee-bim Bop! by Linda Sue Park, ill. by Ho Baek Lee

A little girl helps her mom make Bee-bim Bop and cheers the process along because she is hungry.

Target Readers:
Rhythmic Story Fans, Korean Food Lovers, Picture Book Readers

A Big Mooncake for Little Star by Grace Lin

Little Star and her mother make a great, big mooncake. Mother says to let it cool. And Little Star does for a while. But can Little Star resist some midnight snacking?

Target Readers:
Holiday Story Fans, Mooncake Lovers, Folktale Fans, Picture Book Readers

Bilal Cooks Daal by Aisha Saeed, ill. by Anoosha Syed

Bilal and his friends help Bilal's dad make daal, Bilal's favorite dish. His friends have no clue what daal is. They prepare it in the morning and then spend all day playing, continually wondering when it will be done so they can try it. One thing they learn is that daal takes time. Will the wait be worth it? Bilal is a little nervous about whether or not his friends will like his favorite dish.

Target Readers:
Multicultural Character Fans, Friendship Story Fans, Pakistani Food Lovers, Award Winner Readers, Picture Book Readers

Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix by Jacqueline Briggs Martin & June Jo Lee, ill. by Man One

A picture book biography of street food pioneer Roy Choi who dared to mix flavors of Korean and Mexican and sought ways to bring people together with food in L.A..

Target Readers:
Picture Book Biography Fans, Asian Fusion Food Lovers, Street Food Lovers, Award Winner Readers, Picture Book Readers

Cook Korean!: a Comic Book with Recipes by Robin Ha

An introduction to Korean cooking and culture through a graphic novel format.

Target Readers:
Korean Food Lovers, Nonfiction Graphic Novel Fans, Readers Interested in Korean Culture, Young Adult/Adult Readers

Cora Cooks Pancit by Dorina K. Lazo Gilmore, ill. by Kristi Valiant

Cora is very excited the day her Mama decides she's old enough to help cook. She learns about the family's history of cooking and then cooks pancit with her Mama while wearing her Lola's old apron.

Target Readers:
Family Story Fans, Filipino Food Lovers, Picture Book Readers

Dim Sum for Everyone! by Grace Lin

A little girl and her family go to have dim sum at a restaurant, introducing readers to some of the common dishes and unique traits of a dim sum restaurant.

Target Readers:
Dim Sum Lovers, Those Curious about How to Eat Dim Sum, Family Story Fans, Picture Book Readers

The Dinner That Cooked Itself by J.C. Hsyu, ill. by Kenard Pak

A hardworking young man, taken in by neighbors after the death of his parents grows up. His adopted parents try to find a suitable wife for him with the help of a matchmaker, but they fail. He continues to faithfully work hard and show kindness to others. One of those kind acts is to feed a snail he finds. He starts to return home to find grand meals ready for him. And when he finds out who has been leaving meals for him, he discovers an unexpected surprise and blessing.

Target Readers:
Chinese Fairytale Fans, Chinese Food Lovers, Art Lovers, Picture Book Readers

The Discovery of Ramen (Asian Hall of Fame) by Phil Amara & Oliver Chin, ill. by Juan Calle

A red panda named Bao takes 2 kids on a time travel journey to learn about the history and evolution of ramen.

Target Readers:
Time Travel Fans, Ramen Lovers, Food History Buffs, Picture Book Readers

Dumpling Dreams: How Joyce Chen Brought the Dumpling from Beijing to Cambridge by Carrie Clickard, ill. by Katy Wu

A rhyming picture book biography of Chinese chef Joyce Chen who eventually opened several popular restaurants in the States and had her own cooking show.

Target Readers:
Picture Book Biography Fans, Immigrant Story Fans, Rhyming Story Fans, Dumpling Lovers, Chinese Food Lovers, Picture Book Readers

Feast of Peas by Kashmira Sheth, ill. by Jeffrey Ebbeler

Jiva has planted peas and is excited about finally harvesting them. His friend Ruvji is excited too. But when something runs off with the peas just before Jiva plans to harvest them, he has to rethink his garden protection and wait for the next batch. Who could be stealing his peas?

Target Readers:
Indian Food Lovers, Pea Lovers, Trickster Tale Fans, Picture Book Readers

Giant Spider & Me series by Kikori Morino

Nagi is a girl who lives in the forest by herself (well, she lives with her dad but he's out satisfying his wanderlust). One day while weeding and harvesting from her garden, she meets a huge spider-like creature. At first she's scared, but the beast doesn't seem to be very beastly and enjoys Nagi's cooking. She names it Asa and they quickly become friends over food, which Nagi loves to cook. (Recipes are included.) Nagi and Asa’s adventures continue on for 2 more books.

Target Readers:
Light Dystopia Fans, Japanese Food Lovers, Fans of Unlikely Friend Tales, Manga Fans, Young Adult Readers

Jasmine Toguchi, Mochi Queen (Jasmine Toguchi, #1) by Debbi Michiko Florence, ill. by Elizabet Vukovic

Jasmine Toguchi is tired of being the little sister and only getting to do things after her big sister gets to experience them. For once, she'd like to do something Sophie has never done. As the extended family gathers to celebrate mochi-tsuki on New Years, Jasmine is determined to get involved somehow. Sophie will get to help the women make mochi in the kitchen this year because she's ten now. Jasmine is only eight, but she's thinking up a way to convince the adults to let her do something besides babysit her little cousins.

Target Readers:
Holiday Story Fans, Japanese Food Lovers, Family Story Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Lower Grade Readers

Kakuriyo: Bed & Breakfast for Spirits series by Waco Ioka

Aoi has always known that her Grandfather, though he was loving and good to her, was a bit of a rogue to others. She had no idea how many aunts and uncles she had. She did know that the two of them shared the ability to see ayakashi. She learned from him that the best way to keep them from eating you is to give them something else to nibble on. She also knows not to trust them. But even the most vigilant of girls will slip up now and then. And Aoi slips up when retrieving a dish she let an ayakashi eat out of. She finds herself swept off to a place where the ayakashi come from, and a certain ogre demanding that he marry her in payment for her grandfather's debts. Rather than marry the ogre, Aoi decides to find a job and earn money to pay off what her grandfather owed this being. But that's going to prove challenging in the world of Kakuriyo. As the series continues Aoi starts a restaurant to earn money (and she frequently describes how to prepare the dishes she is making for it), and learns her way around the mythological world.

Target Readers:
Beauty and the Beast-ish Story Fans, Japanese Mythology Fans, Fantasy Fans, Japanese Food Lovers, Manga Fans, Young Adult/Adult Readers

Krista Kim-Bap by Angela Ahn

Krista Kim’s life is about to be shaken up by a family heritage project, popular girl Madison’s birthday party, and the Celebration of Dance her teacher has signed the class up to participate in. For the heritage project her best friend Jason suggests she focus on Korean food because he loves eating the stuff at her house. The trouble is her mom, though of Korean descent, has lived in Canada all her life and doesn’t really know how to cook Korean so Krista’d have to ask her grandmother for help. Her grandmother is a very strict, traditional Korean grandma, and seems to love Krista’s older, more fashionable sister Tori and barely tolerates her. Madison’s birthday party unexpectedly finds Krista questioning her fashion taste and hanging out with the popular girls a little more, which means hanging out with Jason less. And then the Celebration of Dance is pretty much a nightmare because dance is not something that comes naturally to Krista. Through it all, Krista will learn more about herself, her family, and what makes a true friend.

Target Readers:
Family Story Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Korean Food Lovers, Middle Grade Readers

Magic Ramen: the Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang, ill. by Kana Urbanowicz

A picture book biography of Momofuku Ando who invented instant noodles.

Target Readers:
Picture Book Biography Fans, Immigrant Story Fans, Food History Fans, Ramen Lovers, Inventor Story Fans, Picture Book Readers

Midsummer’s Mayhem by Rajani LaRocca

Mimi Mackson feels like she doesn't really belong in her family. One of her sisters is a brilliant soccer player, the other is a gifted dancer, her brother is quite the actor, and all of them are musical. Whereas she failed miserably at soccer, only makes ghastly noises on the clarinet, and seems to disappear into the background whenever her siblings are around. They all have tons of friends too, and her best friend just moved to Australia. One thing that she does feel somewhat competent in is baking. She loves experimenting and talking food with her food critic father. So when the new bakery in town announces a contest for the summer and a chance to meet her favorite chef, Mimi is determined to win the thing so she can prove she is important too. She even finds a new cookbook in the woods and a new friend there who also loves to bake. But then things get seriously weird. Her father isn't himself at all and is eating EVERYTHING he can without so much as commenting on taste. One of her sisters has two boys constantly pestering her to profess their undying love, and one of them is the one the other sister was interested in. Her brother is completely self-absorbed, to the point of being rude. And the lady who owns the bakery has the audacity to tell Mimi that her first creation isn't good enough for the contest and tells her to come up with something else to gain entrance. Mimi is starting to get worried that her whole world is about to come apart, but maybe she can put it to rights again with her baking.

Target Readers:
Shakespeare Story Rewrite Fans (or Those Wanting to Be Introduced to the "A Midsummer's Night Dream"), Indian Food Lovers, Baked Goods Lovers, Biracial Family Story Fans, Fantasy Fans, Middle Grade Readers

Mindy Kim and the Lunar New Year Parade (Mindy Kim, #2) by Lyla Lee, ill. by Dung Ho

Mindy is super excited for Lunar New Year, but she isn't so sure about celebrating it without mom or in Florida. In California there were lots of other Koreans around to share the celebration, but not so much in Florida. Her dad says he is planning on taking her to a Lunar New Year parade in a nearby city that's supposed to be big and Sally can come too, so maybe the day won't be a total loss.

Target Readers:
Holiday Story Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Korean Food Lovers, Those Wanting to Learn about Korean Culture, Fans of Stories about Kids Dealing with Change/Loss, Lower Grade Readers

No Kimchi for Me! by Aram Kim

Little Yoomi doesn't like kimchi but she wants to be able to eat it to prove she is a big girl to her brothers. She tries a variety of methods, but Grandma may have the best idea.

Target Readers:
Korean Food Lovers, Family Story Fans, Picture Book Readers

Noodle Shop Mystery series by Vivien Chien

When the property owner of the Asia Village shopping center keels over after eating some dumplings from Lana Lee's parents' restaurant, she and the cooks are immediately the top suspects. She was the last one to see him alive that they know of, when she dropped off his take out order. And the cook made the dumplings, and everyone knows that Mr. Feng was deathly allergic to shellfish. Lana can't imagine who would want to kill Mr. Feng or how the pork dumplings got switched to shrimp. The mini mall shop owners are like a big family and go way back. It soon becomes clear that there will be no peace for anyone until the culprit is found, and without anything better to do in her free time, Lana and her roommate decide to see if they can figure out who done it. This series now has several books and continues to see Lana solve mysteries while helping her family run the restaurant. There’s always lots of food involved.

Target Readers:
Taiwanese/Chinese Food Lovers, Mystery Fans, Contemporary Fiction Fans, Adult Readers

The Spacedog Cometh (Klawde, Evil Alien Warlord Cat, #3) by Johnny Marciano & Emily Chenoweth, ill. by Robb Mommaerts

Raj's parents are off to Hawaii and his ajji (grandmother) has come to stay bringing along a rescue dog she's fostering. Raj is worried that whatever social standing he had will be gone by the end of ajji's stay as she packs delicious Indian dishes that stink up the entire cafeteria at school. Even worse, she is trying to invite his whole grade to a birthday party for him where she'll serve all Indian food! He's doomed. While Raj is slowly dying socially, Klawde is being retrieved by the Pack of United Planets Peacekeeping Service (PUPPS) to be tried for his crimes. Comrade Muffee is sent to Earth to get him. But there's a problem. If Klawde has been claimed by a human, Comrade Muffee must get permission from his human to take him. Muffee has to figure out a way to get in good with Raj to get his permission to take Klawde. Klawde knows about Muffee's efforts, but is enjoying the benefits of a new camera that Raj got from his parents as an early birthday present and is using it to send videos of himself tormenting dogs to reinstate his popularity on Lyttyrboks. He's sure rescue from Lyttyrboks is imminent and he'll be free from Earth and reckoning with PUPPS any time now.

Target Readers:
Indian Food Lovers, Self-Acceptance Story Fans, Family Story Fans, Humor Fans, Animal Lovers, Scifi Fans, Middle Grade Readers

The Ugly Dumpling by Stephanie Campisi, ill. by Shahar Kober

The ugly dumpling tries his best to be like the other dumplings, but he just can't be like them and is never chosen. Then a cockroach pulls him out of despair, shows him the wider world and helps him figure out what he really is.