The illustrations are by one Ho Baek Lee. The book scans nicely and you won't find yourself tripping over syllables that are a bit too long or phrases that tie up the tongue. There's a rather nice if low-quality photograph of Linda Sue Park and her niece and nephew making this very dish at the end. The cooking instructions are clever separated into the parts that 'You' can do (like mixing together ingredients and pouring in the water) and the parts a 'Grownup' will have to do as well. Park includes a recipe for Bee-bim Bop at the end. Everyone mixes all the ingredients together (the 'bee-bim') and chow down on some yummy food. The table is set with spoons and chopsticks, the family gathers, and it is finally suppertime. This goes on with more and more ingredients cooked and added. Back at home the two stir and fry, flip the egg pancakes, set the rice ah-steaming, and chop some garlic and green onions. In rhyme the girl continually prods her mother along with lines like, 'Hurry, Mama, hurry / Gotta shop shop shop! / Hungry hungry hungry / for some BEE-BIM BOP!'. The story, such as it is, follows a young girl and her mother on a shopping expedition. 'Bim-bim Bop!' is just your average getting dinner on the table type affair, but by the end of the story I wouldn't be entirely surprised if you find your small children begging for that tasty meal themselves. A person can only be good at so many things, and while I was a big ole fan of her, 'The Firekeeper's Son', it may be a picture book but it's an entirely different breed altogether. I was wholly within my rights when I looked on 'Bee-bim Bop' with a skeptical eye. Coming up with a storytime picture book that is actually enjoyable to read aloud is another entirely. Coming up with a storytime picture book is one thing. She wins Newbery awards, brings Korean-American families to the foreground of kiddie lit and with 'Bee-bim Bop!' the woman even has a storytime picture book to her name. Since 2004 this woman has single-handed churned out more picture books, pieces of historical fiction, and fantasy novellas than any person dare count.

As far as I can ascertain, Linda Sue Park does not sleep.

Bee bim bop by linda sue park