Today we are excited to share a guest post from author Sojung Kim-McCarthy (Binna’s Dalgona)!
Read on for more about the author, the book, and a giveaway!
About the Author: Sojung Kim-McCarthy
Sojung Kim-McCarthy is a Korean-British children’s book author-illustrator based in Dorset, UK. She was brought up on stories in a family of artists, writers, actors, TV & musical directors. After studying VisComm (BFA) at Hong-ik University, she worked as a designer-in-chief for a leading children’s magazine as well as a children’s art and design educator. Binna’s Dalgona is her debut picture book and was inspired by her own experience of moving from Seoul to the UK.
About the Book: Binna’s Dalgona
Binna introduces her friends to a sweet Korean treat in this charming picture book about finding the right words in a new language.
Binna’s finally starting to feel like she’s not a baby—she can read long books in English, beat her older sister at word games, and she can make dalgona by herself. But when she tries to tell her classmates about her weekend and the sugary, sandy treat she made . . . well, the English doesn’t come to her easily.
Not being able to say what she wants is crushing.
But with her sister’s encouragement and the support of her classmates, Binna finds the right words (and snack) to share about her life in Korea.
~Guest Post by Sojung Kim-McCarthy~
I wasn’t always this obsessed with food. Rather, you could say I was a reluctant eater. My mom hated cooking and instead prided herself on being good-looking. In Korea, a woman can’t look good without being slim, and my mom (and my dad, when he was around) would openly comment on other people’s looks in front of me. I guess that’s how I learned at a young age that being skinny was more valuable than eating well. So I didn’t understand the joy of eating, which meant I didn’t understand the joy of eating together. I never understood the joy of cooking, either. Which is one of the reasons I thought I would do well studying for a Master’s degree in illustration in the UK, because I wouldn’t fall into the agony of missing Korean–or mom’s–food, like many people point out as the biggest hardship when living abroad.
But, oh! the comfort of the first Korean instant noodles I ate a few weeks after arriving in the UK, at the age of 29! I didn’t even particularly enjoy instant noodles back in Korea, and now it somehow tastes of “Home.” My belly was finally lined with the hot, spicy broth that fills every nook and cranny of my body. Suddenly, I realized that I had always been so cold and hungry ever since I came to this not-home country. If you know the feeling of unsettled, sandy grains in your stomach after having an in-flight meal, regardless of how good the food is, that’s what I had felt all that time. But by putting some familiar broth in me, I felt that I had landed. Less not-home.
And that’s how I started becoming this foody (and not-skinny) woman, cooking for people desperate for a taste of home. I make soup in commercial-sized pots for my local community kitchen, and cook national dishes for the refugee guests I host in our spare bedroom. Many of them have been homeless for a time, not by choice. And the quickest way for me to make my guests feel better is to cook something they miss, and eat it together. I’ve learned to make dishes from Afghanistan, Iran, Ireland, Poland, Sudan, and many other countries. Of course, I let them try some Korean food too, although it can be too spicy for some of them.
Before long, they start sharing their favorite recipes, which then become my favorite. I still cook sunny-side-up eggs in turmeric-infused butter, like my Iranian guest used to make for me years ago. My best curry recipe is from one of my Afghan guests–a chef who used to cook for refugees in a giant cauldron in the Calais Jungle–and I follow his method of browning some garlic and onion in a separate pan and adding them in later for more flavor. Looking back, I realize that I learned these recipes and tips not through words, but through cooking with them. Not all my guests arrive fluent in English, so often food becomes our main language–the language of I-want-to-be-your-friend and I-hope-to-make-you-happy.
So when I wrote BINNA’S DALGONA, a picture book about a Korean girl who overcomes a language barrier & makes new friends through the power of food, I wasn’t making up a story–I have been that girl. Binna just moved to a new country, and although she’s been studying English very hard, it’s still difficult to say everything she wants and connect with her new friends. When frustrated Binna misses ‘home,’ her older sister makes her dalgona, a Korean homemade candy, for the courage to try another day. And in the safe, quiet environment her classmates created for her, Binna gets to tell them all about her favorite food. Things get easier, as her older sister said it would–Binna makes dalgona with new friends who now share more than their homemade treats. This new country is now her Home. BINNA’S DALGONA is my promise for a reader out there who needs it–that it will get easier; that they will find someone to share their favorite food and the friendship they bring.
Title: Binna’s Dalgona
Author: Sojung Kim-McCarthy
Illustrator: Sojung Kim-McCarthy
Release Date: 5/13/25
Publisher: Dial Books for Young Readers
ISBN-13: 9780593856550
Genre: Picture Books – Fiction
Age Range: 3-7
*Giveaway Details*
Two (2) winners will receive a hardcover copy of of Binna’s Dalgona (Sojung Kim-McCarthy)! ~ US ONLY!
