Title: Late Today

Author: Jungyoon Huh

Illustrator: Myungae Lee

Publisher/Year: Eerdmans BYR/2025 (Wisdom House/2022)

Format: Hardcover, eBook

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October 16th is Global Cat Day, a day that acknowledges that all cats, including stray and feral cats, deserve to be treated humanely. To celebrate the occasion, I’m reviewing a picture book about a little stray kitten.

With starred reviews from both Kirkus and Publishers Weekly, Late Today by Jungyoon Huh is already drawing attention. It was originally published in South Korea but has been republished this year here in the US by Eerdmans Books for Young Readers.

In Late Today, a terrified and confused kitten dashes between honking cars and trucks and buses, determined to make it to safety. Though lots of people see the kitten, everyone’s in a rush, and no one stops to help, until…a boy and his mother, fearful for the little cat’s safety, finally does.

Deceptively simple text is accompanied by dynamic art by Myungae Lee, whose colored pencil and oil pastel illustrations depict people of all ages, bumper-to-bumper traffic across a multi-laned bridge, a cityscape background, and a tiny lost kitten on a gray, rainy morning. Shocks of vivid color are scattered between dark skies, black tires, and lines of blue-hued pouring rain.

A heartbreaking story, filled with danger, becomes a heartwarming story by the end, much to the relief, no doubt, of any reader, young or old. It’s a not-so-subtle reminder to slow down, to consider what’s truly important, and to find compassion in our hearts for others, including animals.

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