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by Linda Sue Park
In “Bee-bim Bop!” (BETWEEN THE LIONS Episode #805), the Lions smell
something delicious in the library. The scent leads them to this book about
the popular Korean rice dish, bee-bim bop.
BOOK TALK
Before you read Bee-bim Bop!
Start a conversation that will help prepare children to enjoy the story with you.
You may want to provide a simple introduction, such as, In this story, a girl helps
her mother make her favorite dish, called bee-bim bop. Bee-bim bop means mixed-up
rice in Korean. Asking questions is a great way to get children involved. Try
these to get started:
• Do you ever help make dinner? What do you do to help?
• What is your favorite meal?
As you read Bee-bim Bop!
Encourage children to ask questions, predict what will happen next in the
story, or join in on the repeating phrase, “Hungry, hungry, hungry for some
BEE-BIM BOP.” Point out interesting pictures or words as you read. If a word
seems unfamiliar, help children think about its meaning in the story, then
define it for them using simple terms.
Word Watch:
• groceries: food that you buy at the store
• spatula: a tool used to flip food while cooking in a pan
After you read Bee-bim Bop!
Ask children whether or not they liked the story and find
out why. Help them make personal connections
with the characters or plot by asking questions,
such as:
• What does the girl do to help her mother
get ready for dinner?
• Do you ever help your family go food
shopping? What do you do to help?
• Pretend that the girl from Bee-bim Bop!
is coming to dinner at your house.
What foods would you like to eat?
Bee-bim Bop, p.2
FUN THINGS TO DO
Doing a hands-on activity after reading a book aloud gives children a chance
to be creative and makes the story experience more personal and memorable.
Each of these activities is easy and uses common materials. You can try one or
more, adapt them, or make up your own!
Idea #1: Create a pretend kitchen with children. Label the appliances (stove,
sink, refrigerator), the cooking supplies (pot, pan, spatula, rolling pin) and play
food (milk, eggs, rice). You can also use empty milk, juice, and cereal cartons.
Invite children to take turns playing a child and an adult cooking a meal
together, just like the mother and child in Bee-bim Bop! Join in the fun and
sample some of the children’s delicious dishes!
Idea #2: Teach children a variation of “The Farmer in the Dell.” Have
children stand in a circle holding hands. A child in the center will be the
“cook”. Have children circle around as they sing the song. At the beginning of
the second verse, the “cook” will choose another child to join him or her as
“the eggs”. The “eggs” will choose the “rice” and so on until all the ingredients
of bee-bim bop are in the center of the circle with the “cook”. For the last verse,
the children in the circle can drop hands and “mix like crazy” as they sing.
Idea #3: Have children set a table like the girl in Bee-bim Bop! On four paper
place mats (or 11˝ x17˝ paper), trace the outlines of a place setting: a folded
napkin on the left, a bowl in the middle, a pair of chopsticks and/or a spoon
on the right. Place the placemats on a table. Nearby place four napkins, plastic
spoons, bowls, and pairs of chopsticks. Encourage children to count together as
one child sets out four bowls. Repeat for napkins, chopsticks and spoons, with
children taking turns to set the table. Clear the table and try the activity again.
Bonus Ideas
• Play a rhyming game. Say the word bop and another word. If the two words
rhyme, children will bop their fists together (tap one fist on top of the other).
If the words don’t rhyme, they will keep their hands on their laps. Here are
some word pairs: Bop-hop. Bop-rice. Bop-drop. Bop-spoon. Bop-good. Bop-mop.
• Have children make their own version of bee-bim bop with art supplies. Use
styrofoam packing material for rice. Cut small shapes out of colored felt to
make diced carrots, onions, meat and other ingredients. Let children select
ingredients to put in a paper or plastic bowl and use plastic spoons or chop
sticks to mix them together as they chant, “Bop! Bop! Bop! Mix it up! Mix it
up! Bee-bim bop!” They can top their creations with a paper or fabric egg.
• Read other books about favorite meals, such as Too Many Tamales by
Gary Soto, Dumpling Soup by Jama Kim Rattigan, or Feast for 10 by
Cathryn Falwell.
BETWEEN THE LIONS is produced by WGBH Boston, Sirius Thinking, Ltd, and Mississippi Public Broadcasting. BETWEEN THE LIONS is funded in part by The Corporation for Public
Broadcasting, a cooperative agreement from the U.S. Department of Education’s Ready To Learn grant, and by the Barksdale Reading Institute. National corporate funding is provided by Chick-fil-A. Development of the contents herein was funded in part by the Park Foundation and the Civil Society Institute. This document was developed in part under a
cooperative agreement between the U.S. Department of Education, The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, and the Public Broadcasting Service for the Ready To Learn Initiative,
PR#s U295A050003 and U295B050003. However, these contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education and you should not assume endorsement
by the Federal Government. ©2002, 2009 WGBH Educational Foundation and Sirius Thinking Ltd. All rights reserved. BETWEEN THE LIONS, Get Wild About Reading and the BTL
characters and related indicia are trademarks or registered trademarks of WGBH Educational Foundation. All third party trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
Funding for the original development of this fact sheet was provided by the AT&T Family Care Development Fund.