Benny loves his Korean heritage - he loves the food, the language, the cartoons on TV and the creative toys his grandma sends to him. Benny also wants to fit in at his new school. His mother lovingly makes his favorite foods and puts them in his brand new Korean themed lunchbox. Benny is so excited to eat his treats until students start making fun of his strange lunch. Benny is embarrassed and wishes that he could just be like all the other kids. Do wishes come true? Because right after Benny throws his favorite lunchbox into the trash all of his unique Korean traits seem to disappear - no more delicious lunches, no more Korean cartoons and now he can't even talk to his grandma in Korea! What is going on - and is this really what Benny wants? Is Benny happier trying to be like everyone else or does he miss his real life?
This is a great chapter book to share with a lower grade class to discuss inclusion, acceptance, diversity, kindness and love. Help teach children to love and accept themselves by sharing this book!
Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy for review.

The book focuses on how cultural differences can be negatively used against certain individuals and how they immediately feel like outcasts and want to be someone else to fit in. You feel embarrassed about yourself and your customs, clothing, and food and wish things were different to you can fit in without needing a label attached to you. It's race-focused to showcase struggles and how hurtful it is for those individuals. I enjoyed the glossary the most which was filled with interesting information.

Thank you to the author, Stone Arch Books and NetGalley, for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This middle school children's book about being the "new kid" and finding your way, while still being true to who you are is a great read. I loved the way the author presents both the outsider's perspective, trying to fit in but not wanting to lose their cultural heritage, and showing those that have never *not* fit in how you can open up and learn new things. I still don't quite get the whole "magic" thing, but overall this story is ideal for the age group. The illustrations are cute and used sparingly but effectively, and the glossary at the end of the book is a great complement to the story.

Drama at his new middle school for Ben, the kid of Korean heritage, who is getting along with everyone fine until people scoff at the dark-coloured seaweed surrounding his favourite choice of lunch. Dismissing all the food, he wishes for an alternative where he didn't stand out for his cuisine – and lo and behold, something or someone grants that wish, meaning that from then on all his lunches are bog standard American. But did he actually do the right thing, denying his heritage, when he cannot even find Korea on a map, or his favourite K-TV channel as a result?

It's nice to see the drama not about Ben's being bullied, and instead the problems he has sort of self-inflicted. It's a fine way to prove pride in your heritage is key, and while that lesson is very evident here it's not too broad. The drama is high, the characters are OK – even the sports jock who holds the school bus up seems a decent kid and not the usual brat – and certainly with second-generation audiences this will be an important as well as a fun read. A strong four stars.

I read this book with both my 5 year old son and my 11 year old daughter. The older enjoyed it more than the younger. He couldn't really sit though, the age range is spot on for the lower side, could be moved to a few years older. This book will actually hit home with my kids, as they are changing schools this coming school year (son will be his first year in K) and they are half Korean American.

The book was well written and illustrated. My son liked that the main character had similarities to his look. We will recommend this book to other children.

Thank you for the free advanced book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was so adorable, I loved everything about it, the illustrations were so well done, they suited the book perfectly, the story was amazing as well, even thought is very short I could really connect with the characters and feel theirs struggles.
I’m sure the kids are going to be just as enthralled with this amazing book as I was.
I will definitely recommend!

Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this early copy

This is superb. Character growth: robust. Plotline: unique, and applicable to so many kids. Pacing: quick and engaging but not rushed. Prose: childlike but not twee or condescending. A-plus!

A fun chapter book about Ben Lee, who is struggling with not just being the new kid but also with a change of culture. Even though he didn't leave the US., Michigan seems a world away from his former home in Koreatown, Los Angeles, California. As the only Korean-American in his classroom, Ben feels very much like an outsider, The kids don't know the Korean TV series he likes, and they make fun of his Korean lunches. Of course, all ends well, thanks to the help of a lunch box, an unusual janitor, and a new friend who shares his own tale of how he learned to be strong and inviting after the kids made fun of his Mexican lunches (and who also had an experience with lunch box magic). I am still a bit confused about Mr. Wiz's role and how the lunch box magic worked. This is a good addition to new kid at school titles that stands out because it does address culture as well as general feelings that go with being new. Recommended for 1st-3rd graders.

This was a really great read! With lovely illustrations, an easy and enchanting wiriting style and a protagonist that makes us root for him, this is a great book for its audience and more! For example, as Portuguese reader who will soon be an English teacher in Portugal, I would have classes based on this book! I recommend it, of course! I am not giving it 5 stars because I wanted to see a bt more abou certain secondary characters. Still, this has such a good storyline, as well as amazign lessons focused on pride over our cultural background and in ourselves!

4.5 stars!

I loved this story about being proud of your heritage. Hanna Kim presents an engaging allegory that will provide lots of opportunities for discussion with young readers. Highly recommend!

The Magic Lunch Box is a story about Ben, a fourth grader, who moves to a new school and as such faces new challenges around his Korean American identity. I think most Asian Americans have experienced a similar struggle in their lives and for many of us, it starts young and continues into our adult lives. But as a young child, it can be especially confusing and painful to learn that being different can mean feeling very alone. There's really no easy solution, but what we learn from Ben's experience is that we can find refuge in friends and strength within ourselves. It isn't easy to stand out and it isn't fair to have to educate and tolerate, but there is value to embracing our culture because it is a part of who we are. A part that is valuable and so should be valued.

The Magic Lunch Box is a magical story rooted in the very real world that addresses a tough topic with the perfect blend of gravity, levity, and magic. I really enjoyed Ben's story and I hope it finds its way into elementary school libraries everywhere!

It's hard to be a new kid. It's hard to leave behind a community where your culture and identity were valued - to a place where they are unknown. What kid hasn't wished to just be like everyone else at some point? The adage "Be careful what you wish for" is the phrase Ben would use to describe what it felt like to get his wish. Would make a great back to school read aloud. Perfect for 2nd-3rd graders.

I am so glad I read this book today! Never have I read such a well written, well illustrated and well informed young middle grade book on multicultural interest from a very young character’s point of view.

Ben Lee is starting his new school in Michigan and gets shamed for his homemade lunch, kimbab. The kids are ignorant but how they behave makes Ben reluctant to mix with others and is having trouble being friends with them. He explains his dilemma to his parents at home and discusses his trouble with the teachers who are quite understanding. I find this story of acceptance and encouragement a great step towards educating kids about multicultural backgrounds.

I find the illustrations quite good. Love the glossary given towards the end for reference. Also the interactive exercises given at the end is so worth it. Also who knew a recipe would be included as well??!

This is a really cute story about learning to accept who you are. The book also has some resources in the back that were great.

That hit too close to home. As a child, I remember wanting to bring Lunchables to school. I snacked on pepperoni after school. Did I particularly like these things? Or was I just embarrassed to be Asian? Thirtysomething me is disgusted with younger me.

Ben moves from LA Koreatown to bumfuck nowhere Michigan. It's not diverse. He brings kimbap to school and gets booed and ewwed. Been there. Done that. Welcome to the immigrant experience even if you weren't the one that immigrated.

When Ben throws the delicious lunch his umma made him away, he begins to lose everything else Korean in his life: his favorite TV show, the taste of kalguksu, and conversations with his halmeoni. When his new friend Emilio shows him how to retrieve his lunchbox, things turn around.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher.

I read this book to my six year old and he enjoyed it so much that he read part of it on his own without me. Like Ben, my son will start a new school soon and he could relate to his nerves over being a new kid. Also like Ben, he is an Asian-American who has to explain some of the differences in his culture of origin. Ben’s great dilemma is that his mother packs him Korean food for lunch and his classmates react negatively to his unfamiliar food. Embarrassed and hurt over his classmates’ racism, he throws his lunchbox in the trash and makes a wish to be “normal.” The author writes Ben as a emotional child who has a deep love for his family and culture but also very much wants to fit in at his new school. With the help of a friend and some magic, Ben figures out how to confidently be fully himself at school and at home. I thought the author did a wonderful job conveying Ben’s perspective and character arc. We enjoyed the glossary and reader questions in the back as well as the recipe for kimbap! The illustrations were very cute, modern and expressive. I would have liked to see a bit more nuance in the writing but the author made her point clear. I asked my son what he wanted me to write in my review and he said, “tell them it’s ok to try new things, like a new school. But don’t say that until the very end.”

For Asians (slash Asian Americans) in the United States, the narrative of the "stinky" lunch might be all too familiar. The eponymous Ben, a Korean American who has recently moved from Los Angeles's Koreatown to Michigan, is ridiculed for his lunch on the first day at his new school––and wishes that he could fit in more with his peers.

As an educator, I loved the thematic depth that this book explores. Ben's culture is not simply encapsulated by his food, but it's also his language, his pop cultural consumption, his familial bonds, and the everyday items he uses. Ben's experiences on the first day of school send him on a mission towards assimilating into whiteness, and the book does a great job of showing the ways that assimilation results in cultural erasure and forgetting. While these themes are globally profound, the book handles them in a way that is age appropriate without watering them down. The book is fast paced, light, and enjoyable with a delightful aesthetic aided by Emily Paik's illustrations.

“I hadn’t realized how much my Korean culture meant to me until it disappeared.”

This was an entertaining adventure story perfectly aimed for the target audience, with hints of magic and suspense. The central theme is about identity and belonging, finding pride in one’s culture and being secure in one’s identity. The dialogue empowers any minority kids in similar positions to know what to potentially say to others who might bully and make fun of them. It also reminds kids that there will be friends who will accept you as you are, and to give people the benefit of the doubt. Thought the recipe and conversation points included at the end were a nice touch too.

Having your food made fun of has got to be the worst thing that can happen to grade school kids. It especially hurts when it happens to be your favorite food, as it is for Ben Lee.

Ben Lee is so upset that he throws his favorite food, and lunchbox away, rather than have to deal with the kids at his new school.

But, the next day, when he goes to eat the Korean food his mother has made for him, it has transformed itself into a ham and cheese sandwich. And continues to do so with all his lunches, and his dinners at home, until he can’t stand it anymore. He misses his Korean food. And he finds someone else who had this happen to him too, on his first day of school, and tells him how to solve the problem, by getting his old lunch box back.

I love the point of the story. To not be ashamed of your heritage, and to turn the people who tease you around, by offering to share, and explaining about how good it is. Sometimes that will work. This story will resonate with so many kids out there, although the part about having a magic lunch box that transforms Korean food into standard white American food, might not.

Fast paced chapter book. To the point without hitting us over the head with it.

Thanks to Netgalley for making this book available for an honest review. This book comes out from Capstone the 1st of August 2023.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Stone Arch Books/Capstone, for the advance reading copy!

I am so glad I read this book today! Never have I read such a well written, well illustrated and well informed young middle grade book on multicultural interest from a very young character’s point of view.

Ben Lee is starting his new school in Michigan and gets shamed for his homemade lunch, kimbab. The kids are ignorant but how they behave makes Ben reluctant to mix with others and is having trouble being friends with them. He explains his dilemma to his parents at home and discusses his trouble with the teachers who are quite understanding. I find this story of acceptance and encouragement a great step towards educating kids about multicultural backgrounds.

I find the illustrations quite good. Love the glossary given towards the end for reference. Also the interactive exercises given at the end is so worth it. Also who knew a recipe would be included as well??!

Well, what are we waiting for!? Let’s grab the book when it comes out!