Late Today

Huh and Lee make a marvelous English-language debut in an emotionally urgent story about a small act of moral courage. It’s 8:15 a.m., storm clouds loom, and traffic is bumper-to-bumper across every lane of a bridge—and indeed all over Seoul. “We can’t be late today,” reads an opening line suspended over the vehicles. Suddenly, a scraggly black kitten appears on the bridge, and cinematic colored pencil and oil pastel compositions move readers in, over, and under the traffic as the tiny animal desperately tries to evade the tires of passing cars. Commuters, including a child in one vehicle, express varying degrees of alarm and empathy, but no one takes a step to help—until, as rain begins pelting the cars, one, driven by the child’s mother, screeches to a halt amid a chorus of honks. The driver runs out, scoops up, and cradles the frightened kitten, and takes her inside the car, which soon blends back into the mass of traffic. It’s a moving work about a small, essential act of kindness. Ages 4–8. (Sept.)