Hot Pot Night!

The first thing that drew me in was how adorable the artwork in this book is! It has a beautiful color palette and such fun illustrations. I also enjoyed that it tells the story of a group of people coming together for a hot pot dinner, which is something I've never seen in a children's book before. I'm only knocking a star off because the text was a bit bland - it starts off fun, but without any rhyming and a little too much repetition, it became a little boring quickly and I think it might not hold many kids' interest for long. That said, I still think it's a great little book and I loved that it includes a recipe in the end!

Cute with wonderful illustration, this is a great title for teaching kids about the values of welcoming and diversity. The recipe included is perfect for a family dinner and is easily understandable for little kids that want to try hot pot for the first time. I wish there had been a little more history or explanation of hot pot, but I think this could easily spark some conversation and further reading.

There was something I loved about this book. It was so simple, but the sense of community made my heart so happy! I can't wait to share this book in my school library!

Great...now I want Hot Pot! What a lovely book about Chinese food and culture. This would be a perfect book to share during culture sharing or a food unit. Can't wait for this release!

This is a beautifully illustrated book about neighbors that live in an apartment complex and share a yummy dinner together. They all work together to make the hot pot. This book seems to be geared towards smaller children as it is very short and easy to read.Bonus: it also includes the recipe for hot pot.

This is a delightful book to include in the classroom library for primary students as it is culturally relevant to the Asian culture with a focus on a Taiwanese American child. As an ENL and classroom teacher, I would use this book during a study on Chinese (Lunar) New Year as a topic of food cuisine. In addition, I would most likely find a way to incorporate a hot pot feast as a culminating celebration within the class.

This book has beautiful illustrations that exemplify diverse cultures coming together to share in a special meal. Each family contributes a small ingredient to the hot pot. Repetition of words and short phrases will aid in word recognition, developing fluency, and aiding in comprehension of the overall text.

Thank you to Vincent Chen, Charlesbridge, and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

Such a cute book sharing the love of hot pot with neighbors. The simple pictures and stories make this an easy and quick read or listen for children of all ages. And to encourage together time, the author includes a recipe for families to try, along with an explanation of hot pot.

This is a short and sweet picture book about a community coming together around a shared meal. I love the diversity of characters, I love that neighbors are gathering and assembling a meal together, and I love that I learned something new (I've never heard of Hot Pot before).

This would be a great book to share in a Soup or Food themed storytime, especially for a younger crowd. I also like that there is a short explanation of Hot Pot and a recipe in the back. I love a good recipe that helps extend learning at the end of a picture book.

I'm wrestling with my critique a little bit--on the one hand, I wish some of the beautiful foods on the endpapers had been labeled (I don't know what all of them are), and I wish the book had more of a storyline to explain hot pot better. However, I also firmly believe that it's not the responsibility of picture books (or BIPOC authors) to explain cultural traditions for the comfort and ease of white audiences. So if I used this book in a library program, I would make sure I did a bit more research on hot pot so that I could answer any questions from my children, and I would encourage parents to do the same when they encounter cultural traditions outside their realm of experience.

Vincent Chen has written and illustrated what is sure to be a staple in libraries everywhere. In a modern rendition of the classic Stone Soup, neighbors in an apartment complex gather with one another and combine their resources to make hot pot, a Chinese soup intended to bring people together. The concise text and digital media illustrations combine to create a captivating story, and Chen effortlessly weaves diversity into this picture book. The explanation at the end, along with a recipe, add to this already wonderful addition to children's literature and will extend learning beyond the pages.

Vincent Chen has written a must-have for library collections.

In this book we see how a family is united in their hot pot night and get involved making and eating together including all generations together to eat. Showing kids the value of family time together and making your own meals too this was a delightful read!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

The same question echos around the world each and every night..."What's for dinner?" This question is answered by a Taiwanese American child in a simple, fun way in "Hot Pot Night." He invites his neighbours in his apartment building to a communal dinner and it's a pot luck dinner although in his culture it is called hot pot!

The diverse group eagerly donate: broth, meat, and a variety of greens. The little boy provides the pot, and his apartment, for a joyous celebration of great food and sharing it together.

The spirited illustrations are wonderful and the message of the book is positive. It highlights community co-operation, and culture.

Back matter includes Chen's own family recipe for hot pot, a dish traditional to China, Japan, and other Asian countries. I highly recommend this book.

The simple rhythmic text and colorful illustrations make this the perfect book to share during a toddler storytime. The recipe in the back of the book will encourage families to take the book home with them after we read it together.

I love exploring other cultures with picture books. My students love them too! Many cultures and families are well represented in this book. The recipe in the back looks like something fun to try with our families during quarantine. It reminds me of making stew at a camping trip with a mystery can from each person.

What’s for dinner? Looks like it’s Hot Pot night! In this adorable tale, a Taiwanese American boy brings his neighbors together to share a wonderfully communal meal. Hot Pot is an Asian dish that includes a variety of ingredients. It has a broth base, and can include veggies, meat, noodles, and sauces. It literally brings people together through the sharing of cooking and eating a hearty meal.

The art reminds me of the cutesy style of Bee and Puppy Cat, and I loved the diversity of the book’s characters. It introduces readers to the most fun part of new cultures, the delicious food! There’s even a simple hot pot recipe at the back if your family would like to give it a try.

I’ve only ever had Hot Pot once, but it brought all of my friends together in one place for delicious food and community. We had a blast, and I’d love to do it again. I’d also love to share this book with any and all kids I know. I love a picture book that isn’t just about one kind of child, because all children need to see representation in their literature, and this book is bound to make them smile.

This one’s not out until September, but with the temperatures rising, I think such a cozy book is perfectly timed for that crisp, fall weather. Keep an eye out for it!

Hot Pot Night is a children's book all about delicious food, community, and culture. Being a hotpot lover myself, I was super excited to give it a read and potentially introduce it to my classroom library.

This story (quite literally) brings people together through the love of food. Hotpot by its very nature is a dish that encourages a sense of closeness. It's best when shared with groups; each person picks their favorite items to add to the broth. If people have opposing tastes, they have to come to a compromise. If that isn't a great analogy for culture in our society today, I don't know what is!

I think this book is absolutely brilliant. The artwork is gorgeous, and there are subtle lessons learned for kids of all ages. Perfect for parents to read with their littles!

I received an electronic ARC from Charlesbridge through NetGalley.
So much to celebrate with this book. An apartment building's diverse neighbors gather together to share dinner and cook Hot Pot. I love the casual intertwining of the various cultures. Chen takes readers through the process from invitation to meal prep to eating together.
The text is easy to read and easy for young readers to follow. The illustrations invite readers to share in the joy of the cooking process and the time together. I love that the story finishes with plans to gather in a different apartment for another meal together.
Chen provides informative text and a recipe for Hot Pot at the end of the book.

I love that this books shows people being brought together over food! As an Italian this is something we definitely believe in in my family and I’m aware that culturally many different groups of people agree that food can bring people together. Sharing a meal is a bonding experience, an experience of love and care, and Hot Pot Night makes that clear! I love the recipe at the end, the word choices throughout and the page that explains that Hot Pot is a “Chinese soup that literally brings people together and encourages people to share.” This is true of books too and it definitely describes this book.

Hot Pot Night! is a great book about building community by cooking food together. This book is easy to read with one sentence on each page. I love that a recipe for Hot Pot is included in the back of the book.

This book brings together a community within a building for dinner in a series of beautiful illustrations with people of different walks of life. Through the making of the hot pot, you could see the love shared between the community, and that this was not the first nor last time they would be doing this. A lovely book to share to teach children about community, food, and love.

While the summary in the publication data page compared this to Stone Soup, I feel like this was less a re-imagining of that and more a book with some strong parallels but a different heart Hot pot sounds like a delicious culinary tradition, one that I've never tried but would love to experience. This book's text was simple and lyrical and the end matter provided enough information about the hot pot process and a simple enough beginner's recipe to follow that I think it will serve as an invitation to readers to give it a chance. I will gladly add this to my library's collection when it becomes available. Well presented and clearly written. Nicely done.

I requested and received an e-ARC of this book from Vincent Chen and Charlesbridge through NetGalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

This was a cute book about community and coming together to enjoy a hot meal as a neighbourhood family. I love the recipe at the back of the book and will try this recipe for myself in the future because it looks tasty!

An inviting read for sure! Contemporary illustrations of a community coming together to create a traditional hot pot. It is a modern take on the classic "Stone Soup" and love that at the end Vincent Chen has added a hot pot recipe to try! I think this would make a great classroom read and even better - make a class hot pot!

Hot Pot Night is such a cute book. It has diverse characters, colorful illustrations, and shows a community sharing a meal. Perfect book to use during storytime.

A Chinese American family brings together various families in their apartment complex to make a communal dinner where everyone contributed something to the meal. I love the inclusive representation and the idea that food is better when it is created together and shared. I also like that they featured delicious authentic ingredients and indicated that many cultures have a version of a hot pot so families can try it at home with their own recipe or use the sample one in the back of the book as a starting point. The repetition makes it ideal for sharing during a storytime where kids will undoubtedly join in the refrain. It seems best suited for a preschool-kindergarten audience, so it is not a best fit for my library at this time.

This is a simple story, yet extremely engaging with the text and illustrations. Basically, family, friends, and neighbors get together for a dish called “hot pot.” I loved the description of the togetherness and the warmth and satisfaction of food. Right after I read this, I looked up vegan hot pot recipes (this book featured the meat variety, with a recipe at the end that can be tailored to different diets). I read this via NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher.

A really sweet picture book about Hot pot night. The rhymes added to the charm of the book, and the illustrations were so sweet! I love that there’s a recipe in the back and an explanation of the culture behind hot pots!

We loved this short, wonderful story. A young Chinese American boy invites his neighbours to join them in a meal. Everyone contributes something to the Hot Pot, helps to prepare it, enjoys eating it and then they all clean up together. What a great multi-cultural story about community, cooperation, friendship and sharing. We loved the illustrations that were large, vibrant and full of action and emotion. The text was done in speech bubbles which we also talked about because that was a different style for my grandkids. The words were short and easy to read, so after I read it to them, my grandson read it to his sister and me. A great book for a preschool classroom and for primary students who are learning to read.

The artwork for this was gorgeous - every page was so fun to look at. There's also a recipe included at the end, which would be great as a follow-up activity.

*received for free from netgalley for honest review*Such a cute book! i love the art so much and love that it includes a recipe!!

I think this book is very appealing both for the story and the illustrations. It offers a "window" for kids who do not live in urban areas to see some of the customs.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great book. The illustrations were bright and vibrant. The text flowed well and the story wasn't too long to hold a child's interest. A fun read.