SUNDAY FUNDAY IN KOREATOWN

When the little things start getting you down, look to Grandma for a pick-me-up.

It’s “Sunday Funday,” and Yoomi, the black-and-white cat protagonist of No Kimchi for Me! (2017) and Let’s Go to Taekwondo (2020), hurries downstairs, eager to watch her favorite show on TV. Unfortunately, she is greeted by her siblings, who inform her that her show is cancelled for the soccer playoffs. Still cheerful, she asks her father to start their Sunday ritual of making kimbap for breakfast—only to find a lack of ingredients means she needs to eat cereal instead. The spare and simple narrative describes the growing pile of frustrations, even when Dad takes her to Koreatown. Her favorite book of folktales has been checked out from the bookmobile. At the Korean market her favorite pastry-wrapped hotdog treat is sold out. When she tries tteokbokki (rice cake in a spicy sauce), she accidentally spills the red sauce all over her shirt. To top it all off, her grandma is not home. An exasperated Yoomi declares, “Today is not a Funday.” Happily, Grandma returns to bring a fresh perspective. Once again Kim explores universal experiences, in this case bad days, while highlighting the comforts and joys of Korean culture, her signature bright and colorful cartoons drawing attention to all the small, delectable details of Koreatown. A note about Koreatown and a recipe for kimbap follow.

Sweet and accessible: Readers will savor Yoomi’s latest adventure.