Hot Pot Night is a children's book all about delicious food, community, and culture. Being a hotpot lover myself, I was super excited to give it a read and potentially introduce it to my classroom library.

This story (quite literally) brings people together through the love of food. Hotpot by its very nature is a dish that encourages a sense of closeness. It's best when shared with groups; each person picks their favorite items to add to the broth. If people have opposing tastes, they have to come to a compromise. If that isn't a great analogy for culture in our society today, I don't know what is!

I think this book is absolutely brilliant. The artwork is gorgeous, and there are subtle lessons learned for kids of all ages. Perfect for parents to read with their littles!

What’s for dinner? Looks like it’s Hot Pot night! In this adorable tale, a Taiwanese American boy brings his neighbors together to share a wonderfully communal meal. Hot Pot is an Asian dish that includes a variety of ingredients. It has a broth base, and can include veggies, meat, noodles, and sauces. It literally brings people together through the sharing of cooking and eating a hearty meal.

The art reminds me of the cutesy style of Bee and Puppy Cat, and I loved the diversity of the book’s characters. It introduces readers to the most fun part of new cultures, the delicious food! There’s even a simple hot pot recipe at the back if your family would like to give it a try.

I’ve only ever had Hot Pot once, but it brought all of my friends together in one place for delicious food and community. We had a blast, and I’d love to do it again. I’d also love to share this book with any and all kids I know. I love a picture book that isn’t just about one kind of child, because all children need to see representation in their literature, and this book is bound to make them smile.

This one’s not out until September, but with the temperatures rising, I think such a cozy book is perfectly timed for that crisp, fall weather. Keep an eye out for it!

Okay, what a cute story. I love the illustrations! They really bring life to the whole story. The story itself is is quite simple. A group of people in an apartment building get together to make dinner in a hot pot. Everyone brings something to add to the meal. The text itself is really simple, but the rhyming text is effective and fun. It would be a quick and easy story and I like the community feel throughout this story. I also like the recipe and explanation at the back of the book. It would be a fun activity to do after the reading. I would for sure recommend this book and it would be perfect for families with young children.

I love exploring other cultures with picture books. My students love them too! Many cultures and families are well represented in this book. The recipe in the back looks like something fun to try with our families during quarantine. It reminds me of making stew at a camping trip with a mystery can from each person.

The simple rhythmic text and colorful illustrations make this the perfect book to share during a toddler storytime. The recipe in the back of the book will encourage families to take the book home with them after we read it together.

The same question echos around the world each and every night..."What's for dinner?" This question is answered by a Taiwanese American child in a simple, fun way in "Hot Pot Night." He invites his neighbours in his apartment building to a communal dinner and it's a pot luck dinner although in his culture it is called hot pot!

The diverse group eagerly donate: broth, meat, and a variety of greens. The little boy provides the pot, and his apartment, for a joyous celebration of great food and sharing it together.

The spirited illustrations are wonderful and the message of the book is positive. It highlights community co-operation, and culture.

Back matter includes Chen's own family recipe for hot pot, a dish traditional to China, Japan, and other Asian countries. I highly recommend this book.

Hot Pot Night! is a cute story about a diverse group of people getting together to share the dish. I think this picture book would be a developmentally appropriate book in a preschool classroom as well as a good choice when learning about different cultures.

I also liked that the author included a hot pot recipe. The recipe could be used to create an imaginary hot pot in a preschool classroom using dramatic play or as an art activity.

This is a very simple story. It is about a group of people, they don't appear to be family but instead live in the same apartment building, who decided to share dinner together. They decide in hot pot, which is Chinese dish meant to be shared. In the back of the book it talks a bit about this dish as well as providing a recipe. The text is big, simple, and sparse. The characters are diverse. This would be a good read-aloud for 3-5 year olds, which can be followed up with a craft. I didn't love it but it's good.

In this book we see how a family is united in their hot pot night and get involved making and eating together including all generations together to eat. Showing kids the value of family time together and making your own meals too this was a delightful read!



Many thanks to the publishers for allowing me to review this book for them!

Vincent Chen has written and illustrated what is sure to be a staple in libraries everywhere. In a modern rendition of the classic Stone Soup, neighbors in an apartment complex gather with one another and combine their resources to make hot pot, a Chinese soup intended to bring people together. The concise text and digital media illustrations combine to create a captivating story, and Chen effortlessly weaves diversity into this picture book. The explanation at the end, along with a recipe, add to this already wonderful addition to children's literature and will extend learning beyond the pages.

Vincent Chen has written a must-have for library collections.

This is a short and sweet picture book about a community coming together around a shared meal. I love the diversity of characters, I love that neighbors are gathering and assembling a meal together, and I love that I learned something new (I've never heard of Hot Pot before).

This would be a great book to share in a Soup or Food themed storytime, especially for a younger crowd. I also like that there is a short explanation of Hot Pot and a recipe in the back. I love a good recipe that helps extend learning at the end of a picture book.

I'm wrestling with my critique a little bit--on the one hand, I wish some of the beautiful foods on the endpapers had been labeled (I don't know what all of them are), and I wish the book had more of a storyline to explain hot pot better. However, I also firmly believe that it's not the responsibility of picture books (or BIPOC authors) to explain cultural traditions for the comfort and ease of white audiences. So if I used this book in a library program, I would make sure I did a bit more research on hot pot so that I could answer any questions from my children, and I would encourage parents to do the same when they encounter cultural traditions outside their realm of experience.

Such a cute book sharing the love of hot pot with neighbors. The simple pictures and stories make this an easy and quick read or listen for children of all ages. And to encourage together time, the author includes a recipe for families to try, along with an explanation of hot pot.

This is a delightful book to include in the classroom library for primary students as it is culturally relevant to the Asian culture with a focus on a Taiwanese American child. As an ENL and classroom teacher, I would use this book during a study on Chinese (Lunar) New Year as a topic of food cuisine. In addition, I would most likely find a way to incorporate a hot pot feast as a culminating celebration within the class.

This book has beautiful illustrations that exemplify diverse cultures coming together to share in a special meal. Each family contributes a small ingredient to the hot pot. Repetition of words and short phrases will aid in word recognition, developing fluency, and aiding in comprehension of the overall text.

Thank you to Vincent Chen, Charlesbridge, and NetGalley for this copy in exchange for my honest review.

This is a beautifully illustrated book about neighbors that live in an apartment complex and share a yummy dinner together. They all work together to make the hot pot. This book seems to be geared towards smaller children as it is very short and easy to read.Bonus: it also includes the recipe for hot pot.

Great...now I want Hot Pot! What a lovely book about Chinese food and culture. This would be a perfect book to share during culture sharing or a food unit. Can't wait for this release!

There was something I loved about this book. It was so simple, but the sense of community made my heart so happy! I can't wait to share this book in my school library!

Cute with wonderful illustration, this is a great title for teaching kids about the values of welcoming and diversity. The recipe included is perfect for a family dinner and is easily understandable for little kids that want to try hot pot for the first time. I wish there had been a little more history or explanation of hot pot, but I think this could easily spark some conversation and further reading.

The first thing that drew me in was how adorable the artwork in this book is! It has a beautiful color palette and such fun illustrations. I also enjoyed that it tells the story of a group of people coming together for a hot pot dinner, which is something I've never seen in a children's book before. I'm only knocking a star off because the text was a bit bland - it starts off fun, but without any rhyming and a little too much repetition, it became a little boring quickly and I think it might not hold many kids' interest for long. That said, I still think it's a great little book and I loved that it includes a recipe in the end!