WhaleSnark's Catch Up Time! Books I've Read Lately-ish
Itza me! WhaleSnark! I have a few books I would like to tell you about today, and a small rant to get out.
First, the rant. Just real quick.
OKAY, so maybe you know that some books come out in paperback first, maybe in a different country? Yeah, that happens, but in the U.S., we can't buy it from a local retailer until it's U.S. release date, as a hard copy! UNACCEPTABLE.
I could buy the paperback from Amazon, but I don't really want to fuel that mechanical beast. I would rather get it locally, and pay for the small business to keep running fabulous local events and carrying the finest in books. This paperback first stuff is cool. People love paperbacks more than hardcovers. It's a fact. They are easier to transport, and are lighter than a clunky hardcover. We feel more in tune with them for some reason. They're more intimate, you might say. I don't want to have to wait until the fall for a hardcover I can get now as a paperback, for less, from the UK or Japan. BOLOGNA.
Rant over.
ON TO THE BOOKS!
No Kimchi For Me by Aram Kim
This book is way cute. I like the striking primary colors of the illustrations. What bothers me is that we keep seeing animals representing different peoples instead of the peoples. Koreans shouldn't be cats all the time. It's maybe easier to digest for some but, it still annoys me that we keep seeing cats and other animals instead of PEOPLE. So anyway, the plot is that the youngest cat in the family finds kimchi to be too spicy, and her brothers make fun of her. Boo to older brothers being rude. Boo! But she soon finds a way around eating it straight, it gets put in a pancake. A homemade grandmother-blessed pancake. YUM. Now kimchi isn't so gucky! Hooray! Compromise! Finding solutions to problems! I give this book three stars because representation is important, and children should see themselves in books, but not as cats. It's a habit the books industry NEEDS TO BREAK.
NEXT!
My Lazy Cat by Christine Roussey
A young girl and her cat, Boomer are best friends. Boomer is the laziest of cats. Boomer and the girl spend a lot of time together, but the girl is involved in so many activities, she never has time to just be a lazy loaf like Boomer. What happens when she stops running around and just hangs out with her lazy cat? A lot! They lay in the grass under a tree and look at the clouds together. Boomer teaches the girl (I honestly don't know her name and it isn't in the official review) to slow down, take a moment to stop and look at the clouds, and be present for a little while. I give it four stars, because Boomer is huge! I love how big he is, and this book is really fun to read.
Another review is coming soon! Watch for it! -WhaleSnark
First, the rant. Just real quick.
OKAY, so maybe you know that some books come out in paperback first, maybe in a different country? Yeah, that happens, but in the U.S., we can't buy it from a local retailer until it's U.S. release date, as a hard copy! UNACCEPTABLE.
I could buy the paperback from Amazon, but I don't really want to fuel that mechanical beast. I would rather get it locally, and pay for the small business to keep running fabulous local events and carrying the finest in books. This paperback first stuff is cool. People love paperbacks more than hardcovers. It's a fact. They are easier to transport, and are lighter than a clunky hardcover. We feel more in tune with them for some reason. They're more intimate, you might say. I don't want to have to wait until the fall for a hardcover I can get now as a paperback, for less, from the UK or Japan. BOLOGNA.
Rant over.
ON TO THE BOOKS!
No Kimchi For Me by Aram Kim
This book is way cute. I like the striking primary colors of the illustrations. What bothers me is that we keep seeing animals representing different peoples instead of the peoples. Koreans shouldn't be cats all the time. It's maybe easier to digest for some but, it still annoys me that we keep seeing cats and other animals instead of PEOPLE. So anyway, the plot is that the youngest cat in the family finds kimchi to be too spicy, and her brothers make fun of her. Boo to older brothers being rude. Boo! But she soon finds a way around eating it straight, it gets put in a pancake. A homemade grandmother-blessed pancake. YUM. Now kimchi isn't so gucky! Hooray! Compromise! Finding solutions to problems! I give this book three stars because representation is important, and children should see themselves in books, but not as cats. It's a habit the books industry NEEDS TO BREAK.NEXT!
My Lazy Cat by Christine Roussey
A young girl and her cat, Boomer are best friends. Boomer is the laziest of cats. Boomer and the girl spend a lot of time together, but the girl is involved in so many activities, she never has time to just be a lazy loaf like Boomer. What happens when she stops running around and just hangs out with her lazy cat? A lot! They lay in the grass under a tree and look at the clouds together. Boomer teaches the girl (I honestly don't know her name and it isn't in the official review) to slow down, take a moment to stop and look at the clouds, and be present for a little while. I give it four stars, because Boomer is huge! I love how big he is, and this book is really fun to read.
Another review is coming soon! Watch for it! -WhaleSnark
I really relate to that lazy cat book. Maybe I should do more cloud watching with Kon.
ReplyDeleteI recently read a middle grade book called Krista Kim-Bop, about a Korean American girl who learns to make kim bap from her grandma. So cute! I agree with you on the desire for representation of other cultures in the form of people, not just as animals!
ReplyDelete