Richie’s Picks: LATE TODAY
Richie Partington
Richie’s Picks: LATE TODAY by Jungyoon Huh; Myungae Lee, ill.; and Aerin Park, trans., Eerdmans, September 2025, 40p., ISBN: 978-0-8028-5649-4
“If I have a care in the world
I have a gift to bring”
– Indigo Girls, “Hammer and a Nail” (1990)
“8:15 A.M.
We can’t be late today.”
“A kitten, barely two weeks old, was crossing the bridge.
She jumped over the wheels and over the cars, as if leaping over hill after hill.
Darting back and forth, the kitten didn’t know where to go.”
Come on! It’s a children’s picture book. Surely, there won’t be the deadly smoosh that a typical adult reader will instinctively brace for. Nevertheless, my heart started to race a bit as the illustrations portrayed the honking and grumbling, and the soggy kitty nearly out of its mind, not knowing which way to turn.
I turned the page.
“‘What’s a cat doing in a place like this?’
No one wanted to see a tiny creature hurt, especially not so early in the morning, but no one had the courage to save her.”
It’s raining and then, apparently, hailing on South Korea’s Seogang Bridge as the poor kitten is trapped in its fear. But, just in time, a compassionate mother stops the car, modeling the bravery that one hopes will inspire her fictional child, as well as the pre-k and kindergarten audiences for which this book will absolutely captivate.
The kitty is rescued, and everyone will breathe a happy sigh of relief.
Award-winning illustrator Myungae Lee employs colored pencils and oil pastels to depict, from multiple perspectives, the sights and sounds involving the traffic jam, the storm, and the kitty.
The mother and child will, in fact, be late today. But, as we are learning, some things are worth being late for.
Bravo!
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com