OUR STORY
Hi! I’m June Jo Lee, a food ethnographer, author, and TED speaker. Together with my husband Philip Lee, we publish picture books about food under our READERS to EATERS imprint.
WUNDERLAND is how we bring our books to life and share 20+ years of food culture insights with readers and eaters. We don’t teach recipes. We guide people to trust their own bodies and fall in love with food.
WHY WUNDERLAND?
Taste more. Feel more. Imagine new possibilities together through food. Food is not just fuel or content. When we taste, make, and share together, we begin to see ourselves and others more clearly. When imagination is grounded in food and story, it becomes embodied, communal, and remixed into stories that shape the life we want to live.
OUR APPROACH
Wunderland experiences are grounded, playful, and culturally responsive. Our work draws from Dr. Rudine Sims Bishop’s “Windows, Mirrors, and Doors” framework and from June Jo’s two decades of ethnographic research into foodlife, the emotional, social, and sensory dimensions of how people eat and live.
WHO WE ARE
June Jo Lee, Author and Food Ethnographer
June Jo studies how we eat, what we believe is good to eat, and the hungers beneath the bite. From Korean kimchi factories to consumer kitchens and Google canteens, her work explores how food reflects identity, culture, and our shared futures. She is co-author of the award-winning picture books,Chef Roy Choi and the Street Food Remix (2017), Sandor Katz and the Tiny Wild (2022), and the forthcoming Kimchi Taco Time (Fall 2026).
Philip Lee, Publisher and Co-founder, READERS to EATERS
Philip is the co-founder of READERS to EATERS, an independent press in San Francisco dedicated to food literacy through books and community programming. In 1991, he co-founded Lee & Low Books, a pioneer in multicultural children's literature in New York City. He has been named one of Publishers Weekly’s “Top 25 Book Industry Changemakers.”
Ari Jo, Illustrator and Co-creator, WUNDERLAND
Ari illustrates the WUNDERLAND bunnies and helps design pop-ups. Her work blends humor, tenderness, and cultural curiosity, bringing a Gen Z perspective to make complex ideas accessible and fun.
PARTNERS
New York Public Library • New York City Public Schools • San Francisco Public Libraries • Berkeley Public Library San Diego Public Library • King County Library System • DC Public Library • Kern County Library • Boston Public Library Nutrition Lab • Skokie Public Library • The Dalton School • Open Book Foundation • California Farmers Markets • CA WIC • National Ag In The Classroom • WSU Breadlab • Farmers Foodprint • National Ag in the Classroom • Restaurant Associates • Organic Valley • Google
ORIGIN STORY
WUNDERLAND KITCHEN began as a food art project during the COVID era. We produced 48 tasting boxes and hosted digital gatherings where participants unpacked ideas, remixed flavors together, and experienced taste as transformation. 2021 prototypes include:
Sugar Mirrors (CGMs)
All is made of Light (regenerative business)
Hot Mess (Afrofuturism)
Liquid Gold (NFTs)
Forest Kitchen (edible taboos)
For Ever Green (regenerative investing)