Slippery, Spicy, Tingly

"Cabbages salted, sleeves rolled up, seasonings slathered, hearts warmed up"

Informative story about kimjang, a widespread tradition in Korea that has evolved for centuries. This book not only expertly describe this process, but highlights the unbreakable family bond and unconditional love between Keo and his halmoni (grandma). The illustrations are vibrant and well done!

Heartwarming and lovely, this book is a must read for any lover of kimchi! I loved the connections between the author's childhood experiences that helped make this story what it is.

I was smiling all over myself reading this. What a fun book this would be to read aloud with other kids! Keo loves Kimchi and walks around singing about it, which I can totally relate to. When I love something, I make up little songs and sing them while I'm going about my day. The surprise happens when Keo's grandma comes to visit, when she's not expected, and she makes kimchi in the traditional way.
If someone hasn't tried kimchi before, this would be a great time to try it. Kimchi is so distinctive and when you eat it, you feel satisfied because there is so much taste. I can understand why Keo is so excited.
Thanks to NetGalley for letting me read this.

I really liked this picture book. It was unexpectedly quirky and funny. It was also very sweet.

Keo has an eccentric grandmother halmoni who visits out of the blue from far away. She’s going to make special kimchi, she says, and she mentions a treasure. Keo has no idea what’s going on or what she’s talking about but he’s very interested in the treasure.

Preparations are made, a mysterious hole is dug, a giant clay jar and produce are bought and the family sings and prepares a ton of kimchi. Then, as quickly as she came, she was gone!

The story skips into the winter and halmoni calls. It’s time for the kimchi. It was buried in the mysterious hole and preserving.

Keo and his family enjoy eating every last bit over time. When he gets to the bottom of the jar he sees a special note that halmoni wrote telling Keo that he is her treasure!

I received an ARC of “Slippery, Spicy, Tingly: A Kimchi Mystery” by Yangsook Choi from NetGalley, Lerner Publishing Group, and Carolrhoda Books in exchange for an honest review.

Choi’s book is absolutely delightful. As I read the story of Keo and how his Halmoni (grandmother) arrived at his house during autumn to make kimchi, I had a smile plastered all over my face after reading the author’s wisecracks about Halmoni—using the spicy kimchi to compare it to the grandmother. The author did a beautiful job not just writing this book, but illustrating it as well.

Kimchi, including kimjang, is so important in Korean culture, including the Korean diaspora. However, it’s also increasingly important to the world at large as well. This is a beautiful story that is matched by the equally beautiful illustrations. I hope this book will appear in libraries around the country!

I enjoyed this unique story about a child's connection to their grandmother and their culture via a tasty food staple in Korean cuisine. The artwork is lovely and gentle, and the background is very informative. I can easily see using this in storytime.

My father lived in Korea for a couple of years so I was introduced to Kimchi in my youth. I LOVED this book. The funny grandmother warmed my heart just knowing that she was preparing this special food to show love to her family. The book walked the reader through the process of making kimchi and the community and culture that surrounded the practice. I would definitely read this with my children to expand their worldview.

An absolutely sweet story! I loved how the grandmother made the effort to show her grandson that she loved him, but in her own unique way.

Such a sweet, tender, and heartwarming story about grandparent-grandchild love. I LOVE the illustrations and super senior Halmoni. Overall a very cute children's book!

This is a beautiful picture book bursting with color and creativity! Young readers will enjoy the gentle mayhem and mild spookiness as characters dig holes and dream of ghostly cabbages, older readers will enjoy figuring out the culinary mystery and staying one step ahead of the story, and caregivers will be thankful for the pronunciation guide at the beginning and intrigued by the additional information provided about kimchi and kimjang at the end.

Perfect for reading at a farmer's market or community center where people of all ages can share not only this story but their own memories of community and culinary traditions. Thank you to NetGalley for access to this delicious arc!

Cute! I really adored the progression of how the "mystery" developed and eventually got solved with time and exploration. This definitely made this book well-rounded and 100% interesting. I also liked the illustrations because they were so beautiful in very well-done watercolors. Somehow, the illustrator also played with light while working with these watercolors, which was pleasing to the eye and super impressive. Lastly, this book is very unique - in the best way. There aren't a lot of diverse books out there, especially not ones about kimchi or the making of it. Choi definitely brought a fresh taste to the world of kids' books by writing this book, and I feel that kids will enjoy reading this book. They might even want to read it more than once. Even though rereading this book would take away the surprise of the mystery being solved, there is still so much to this book. Even further, Choi so seamlessly teaches readers about a lot of cool things that are involved in the making of kimchi.

I really enjoyed reading this fictional story based on the real ritual of making "winter kimchi". Not knowing much about kimchi, my children and I found the process fascinating and we are all looking forward to purchasing some kimchi to try in the near future! The story prompted great discussions with my children about different cultures and what foods they eat and why. "Slippery, Spicy, Tingly" would make a great addition to a home or school library and I can see so many different ways for it to be used- to discuss cultures, foods around the world, adjectives, and more!

This is a heartwarming story about sharing food and time between generations. Halmoni is kooky and sweet, and I enjoyed her relationship between her and her grandson. He was very invested in the mystery of her hidden kimchi treasure.

Never have I ever, eaten Kimchi. Now I have to try this traditional dish. Yangsook Choi's book "Slippery, Spicy, Tingly A Kimchi Mystery" will make a great read aloud. I can't wait to hear the musical stylings of author Yangsook Choi (hoping for a video on youtube) or others reading aloud of this book as they share it with their readers. Please Lerner Books make an audiobook version. This story has suspense, innocence, curiosity, and wonder. When I was a little girl, I made up a. song about peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I can appreciate the main character Keo's kimchi song. His grandmother Halmoni has a song fro preparing kimchi too. Only the best food deserves being set to music. The end notes were helpful and informative. I appreciated the phonetic pronunciation guide for the Korean words found in the front of the book. I only wish the character Keo's name was in the guide as well. Whether a person eats or even likes kimchi we can all appreciate how important traditions and traditional food are to a culture. What a great book to open up a dialogue about traditional food and traditions we celebrate in our own homes. This book could also be a good introduction to making up songs about our favorite foods. I highly recommend.

I love this story. My daughters love this story. And I know my students will love this story. Yangsook Choi has invited her readers into one of the most important Korean family traditions: making Kimchi. And she has done this with such warmth and delight. My youngest daughter has even said Ms. Choi's story is one of her favourites.

The writing is beautiful, and the illustrations are of a quality only expected of our great artists. I highly recommend this book!

As an educator and EL teacher, I deeply value books that celebrate cultural diversity and provide students with opportunities to learn about and respect different traditions. This book has deep personal significance to me, as making kimchi is an integral part of my cultural heritage. Raised in Seoul, I grew up eating kimchi before moving to Minnesota, where I realized just how important and precious this tradition is to me.

The process of making kimchi is not just about the food itself; it’s a labor of love that involves significant time, physical effort, and dedication—especially when preparing the heavy cabbages. This understanding deepened when I became a mother and witnessed the love my own mother, now my daughters’ grandmother, pours into making kimchi for our family. Whenever she visits us in Minnesota, she buys an abundance of cabbages and engages us all in the kimchi-making process, transforming it into a meaningful family event. My daughters eagerly join in, creating cherished memories as they experience their grandmother’s love and dedication firsthand.

This book beautifully captures the essence of cultural traditions and the strong family bonds that are formed through them. It’s an excellent resource for students to learn about Korean culture, understand the significance of traditional practices, and develop a respect for the diverse cultures that make up our world. The story’s emphasis on family, tradition, and love makes it a valuable addition to any classroom focused on cultural education.

An engagingly informative story about the wonders of kimchi. The cultural ties that kimchi has are thoughtfully explored in an approachable way even for children who may not have much experience with the food in their own households. Told with soft, encouraging imagery, this book will have kids itching to try kimchi themselves.

Kimchi on toast?! But not sauerkraut I think!
In Korea kimchi is best made in a family group like the one in this story as it has been done for ages.
The Korean tradition of kimjang was recognized as an intangible Cultural Heritage by UNESCO in 2013.
The finely detailed illustrations by the author are fun, entertaining, and colorful.
Well suited for reading by someone of any age (not only 7-8 years) including ESL, and great for gifting, but especially to a school, or your public library!
I requested and received a free temporary digital review copy on Adobe Digital Editions from Lerner Publishing Group | Carolrhoda Books ® via NetGalley. Thank you! Pub Date Oct 01 2024
#Family #FoodPreservation #Grandmothers #Togetherness

This is a sweet little book displaying a grandmother’s, halmoni, love for her grandson, Keo. Unexpectedly, she comes to visit in the fall saying she has a surprise. She is going to make her “special” kimchi. Kimchi is a time honored generational tradition in Korea. She takes a couple days to gather her supplies and Keo’s imagination begins to run wild thinking all sorts of awful things. Then, the time has come to make kimchi and the entire family helps. Once salted and seasoned it’s placed in a large pot outside in the in a deep hole and covered so that it can ferment. This tradition of making it this way has slowly gone by the wayside as it is now much easier to buy in the supermarket.
Halmoni is a spry super senior and enjoys many types of activities. But coming to make kimchi with the family is not only tradition, but a family activity that shows love. I particularly like the drawings which were done by the writer. They are beautiful and depicted the Korean family perfectly. I also appreciated in the beginning a small glossary and pronunciation of each family member. In the end it shows a quick way to make kimchi. It doesn’t have a recipe, but I’m sure a little search online would suffice. There is also history about the generational history of making kimchi. A lot is packed in the quick little book.

Grandmother Halmoni and her grandchild Keo are about to make kimchi.
What is going on? Why is Halmoni acting this and that way?
Told beautifully and from a fresh narrative point, Slippery, Spicy, Tingly is a cute, rich and nuanced children’s book that ticks all the right boxes: representing a cultural aspect, demonstrating the bond between a child and his/their nana, giving information in an engaging way.
We loved the action in the art style. I personally wished the colours were a bit more vibrant, but perhaps the print book will look different and this is entirely subjective.
4.5 stars.

What a fun book! Besides the fact that I love Kimchi, reading how the Grandmother showed the child the traditional way to make it was really fun. I'm excited to create a lesson around it with my students. Maybe we can even make some Kimchi. They will love the descriptive words.