Kimchi Taco Time
Kimchi Taco Time
Written by June Jo Lee & Jacqueline Briggs Martin
Illustrated by Hayelin Choi
Age Range: 6 - 10 years
Grades: 1 - 5
Hardcover: $19.99, ISBN 978-0998436661
Publication Date: October 2026
Preorder from Amazon or Bookshop!
Family taco night gets a spicy Korean remix when Ren tries Grandma's kimchi for the first time. OO-WAAA!
“Frank, funny, fresh! Snap-happy art, irresistible sounds, and scrumptious cross-cultural flavors. What more could you want in a picture book?!” —Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and New York Times Bestselling Author
Blip, blop, blop.
Slice, chop, chop.
Sizzle, sizzle, snap.
It’s Friday! Taco Time! Ren loves family taco night…until Grandma shows up with her spicy kimchi. Papa says there’s no wrong way to taco, but Ren is not so sure. What to do? One brave bite? One unforgettable OO-WAAAA!
Back Matter includes an introduction to Korean food culture, recipes to Grandma's kimchi and Papa's "Awesome Sauce,” Authors' and Illustrator's Notes.
Kimchi Taco Time reunites co-authors June Jo Lee and Jacqueline Briggs Martin, the writing team behind the award-winning Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix and Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, with pictures by Hayelin Choi, who illustrated Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious (also by Jacqueline Briggs Martin) and Bread Lab!.
Editorial Reviews
“Frank, funny, fresh! Snap-happy art, irresistible sounds, and scrumptious cross-cultural flavors – what more could you want in a picture book?!” —Linda Sue Park, Newbery Medalist and New York Times-Bestselling Author
About the AuthorS AND ILLUSTRATOR
June Jo Lee is the co-author of the award-winning picture books Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix and Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild, both written with Jacqueline Briggs Martin. She is also a food ethnographer who studies how America eats, and a co-founder of READERS to EATERS, a publisher dedicated to promoting food literacy through stories about our diverse food cultures. She lives in San Francisco, California.
Jacqueline Briggs Martin is the author of many children’s books, including Snowflake Bentley, winner of the 1999 Caldecott Medal. She is also the author of the “Food Heroes” series from READERS to EATERS, which includes Farmer Will Allen and the Growing Table, Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious, and Farmer Eva’s Green Garden Life. She co-wrote Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix and Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild with June Jo Lee. She lives in Mount Vernon, Iowa.
Hayelin Choi is the illustrator of Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious and Bread Lab!. She is also the author and author-illustrator of numerous children’s books published in China and her native South Korea. Her work is guided by a strong belief in design as a teaching tool, a way to celebrate diverse cultures, and a means of contributing to local communities. She is a faculty member at the Maryland Institute College of Art in Baltimore, Maryland, where she lives.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
It’s FRIDAY!
Beans bubble on the stove,
blip, blop, blop.
Mama’s hands are fast,
slice, chop chop.
Papa grills outside,
sizzle, sizzle, snap.
Agi smooshes avocado,
squish, squash, squoosh!
I press masa rounds
and slide them on the pan.
All for our
Friday taco time!