Bargains! PROMOTIONS
Vincent Chen is a graduate of Rhode Island School of Design with a BFA in illustration. He enjoys watching films, collecting art books, and eating copious amounts of potato chips. Ever since he was a kid, he has loved sharing hot pot with his family and friends.
Chen deploys an autumnal palette in a board book that has more in common with Stone Soup variants than any cultural or historical lesson. A child in an apartment window invites the other residents to hot pot night, contributing the pot and assigning broth to one woman with deep brown skin and long black hair, and commenting on the gray-haired pink-skinned woman bringing meat and the brawny Black man juggling fresh veggies. It’s a vibrant gathering with an array of items that are hot-pot suitable, and a festive atmosphere from end to end. VERDICT Classroom hot pot, anyone? A book that will leave readers and listeners hungry, but the whole family will want to institute hot pot nights. —School Library Journal
