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Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child
In a starred review, Publishers Weekly raves, "Chef and TV personality Julia Child likely would have delighted in and hooted over this wide-ranging picture-book biography.... Readers young and old will devour this fete pour les yeux."Follow Julia Child—chef, author, and television personality—from her childhood in Pasadena, California, to her life as a spy in WWII, to the...more
Hardcover, 48 pages
Published
May 22nd 2012
by Schwartz & Wade
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Julia Child is a wonder to us in America. She somehow managed to break every cultural norm for women of her time (she worked and lived independently for many years before marrying, she married yet never had children, and she created a fabulous career for herself as a chef and a tv personality) and still was able to captivate her audience of (mostly) middle-class American stay-at-home wives and mothers. She was odd for a tv personality (very, very tall and gawky and somewhat plain) but she also h...more
Julia Child and her husband spent many years living abroad in France and other places, traveling when necessary to accommodate Paul’s employer. While they were living in France, Julia took cooking classes and met two other women – Simca and Louisette – who were trying to create a book of French recipes for American cooks. Together, the friends started their own cooking school and Julia became involved with the cookbook. Ten years later, they managed to perfect the recipes AND publish their book,...more
I really enjoyed this biography of Julia Child for children. Jessie Hartland's fully-painted pages bring across Ms. Child's life and personality with great charm. The text is all handwritten, which gives the book the feel almost of a diary or scrapbook album. It also slows down the reading, so that rather than gobbling down the words like fast food, one reads at a measured pace like one of Ms. Child's beloved French dinners, and has time to really savor the illustrations and story.
The book gives...more
The book gives...more
Sep 03, 2012
Joan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
cooking lovers
I found this pretty hard to read, physically. But since it is meant for readers' eyes around 40 years younger than me, I guess that isn't a big complaint really. Probably kids would enjoy the spritely presentation. I did. I hadn't realized how well, blase, Julia was about things. If she dropped some food she picked it up from the floor and used it anyway?!! Presumably she worked for the OSS, (pre CIA) during WWII apparently trying to find ways to repel sharks long enough to get a package where i...more
This is a new concept in picture book biographies and it works! For children as a read aloud, for youth and young adults doing research on contemporary popular culture and notable 20th century icons, and adults wanting to learn more about this remarkable woman (who I had the pleasure of meeting) with out delving into an esoteric biography. The text is set in a style that is reminiscent of a hand written journal and is told in straightforward third person narrative that introduces the reader to t...more
On one side I liked this book, as it is jam packed with interesting stories about a fascinating character. I loved reading about Julia Child's travels and long journey to publish her cookbook. This is really mostly about her professional life, not her personal life, but is really quite an interesting story.
That said, it was hard to read. The book was somewhere in between a graphic novel and a picture book, and the text was hard to follow around the page. In one spread there were actual numbers t...more
That said, it was hard to read. The book was somewhere in between a graphic novel and a picture book, and the text was hard to follow around the page. In one spread there were actual numbers t...more
The book's subject is fascinating- I love Julia Child. I like the fact that a children's biography was published for a famous chef (usually they're all politicians, singers and athletes) and I like biographies about strong women. That being said, the writing in this book was so jumbled. Each page has multiple illustrations, scattered around the page with text that looks handwritten. The book is so BUSY, it's horribly distracting. I have great reading comprehension skills and read really quickly,...more
I went into the children's department to pick up an audiobook and a copy of Betsy and Tacy when I happened to spot this on the new nonfiction shelf. Of course, since my bookclub just read My Life in France (at my request) I had to pick it up and read it. The book is short, but covers all of the important events in My Life in France. The pictures are riotous (and, at times, a little overwhelming), but I think they capture the joie vivre that Julia had. If I were the publisher of this book, I woul...more
Jan 24, 2013
The Library Lady
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
kids-nonfiction
Having read most of what's out there on Julia Child, I can tell you that this is well researched and that she puts in all the most important and interesting bits, leaving out the more adult themes (!)
The artwork is charmant, but this is NOT a picture book, it is more like a graphic format biography for school aged kids. The two page spread in which Hartland shows Julia making a complicated recipe, step by step certainly won't hold a toddler and I'm not sure that even a middle schooler mightn't q...more
The artwork is charmant, but this is NOT a picture book, it is more like a graphic format biography for school aged kids. The two page spread in which Hartland shows Julia making a complicated recipe, step by step certainly won't hold a toddler and I'm not sure that even a middle schooler mightn't q...more
This was a fun book to read about Julia Child and how she became one of America's most beloved chefs. The story is told in a comic book-like format, with speech bubbles and lots of pictures divided up on the pages. I did find the font a bit distracting to read (it's typed out to look like handwritten notes) and some of the pages had too much text and/or too many illustrations going on. However, the story was fun to read, and reminded me of watching that Amy Adams/Meryl Streeo movie "Julie &...more
This picture book contains a lot of information about this famous chef, author, and television personality. Following her from her childhood, to her time in the OSS during World War II, to her marriage to and travels with Paul Child, this also goes into detail about how hard it was for her and her cowriters to complete and publish The Art of French Cooking. The illustrations are attractive, and I love that the color scheme is similar to that of Child's kitchen, which has been moved to the Smiths...more
The format of this book made me sick to my stomach. It was so hard to read because the pages were chalk full of color, drawings and text. I was grateful when the layout was numbered so that I knew what order to read the boxes in because sometimes they didn't even follow the order used in graphic novels. I am disappointed in the format because the book was well researched and interesting. I could tell the author was really into the subject and I appreciated that she has presented Julia Child to a...more
This is a whimsical biography by Hartland of Julia Child. Hartland describes Child's interesting life from childhood through the next nine decades. The heart of the book is the publication of her classic cookbook. Children will enjoy the perseverance it took to publish the book with great examples of the need for revision and knowledge of audience. The publication process is very visible in the biography. You can even try a couple of the recipes included int he book. It is told with an abundance...more
This is a delightful book about a fascinating woman who loved life and food. I grew up watching this program with my mother on WHYY. She would religiously copy each recipe and was probably the first in line to buy the French Chef cookbook when it came out. My favorite dish was bouillabaisse! I hope kids reading this book can get the sense of what an extraordinary woman this was, especially considering the era. I also hope it challenges kids to become more adventuresome in life and try new things...more
This book is the entire story of Julia Child, the chef that authored one of the most influential cookbooks of all time, Mastering the Art of French Cooking. I myself can remember the episode of "The French Chef" when she talks about the differences between chickens.
My only complaint is the text looks like it is handwritten and not typed. This makes it harder to read. It also is similar to a graphic novel in that there is writing all over the page. This also makes it harder to read.
Was on the Am...more
My only complaint is the text looks like it is handwritten and not typed. This makes it harder to read. It also is similar to a graphic novel in that there is writing all over the page. This also makes it harder to read.
Was on the Am...more
I love Julia Child - I was a super fan of the book and movie, "Julie and Julia." I am not sure that kids, however, will know who she is or have an interest in her lief. This is just the first of my concerns about "Bon Appetit: The Delicious Life of Julia Child" by Jessie Hartland. Though Child is very interesting, the author positively jams the book full of details about her life. Add to this the extremely busy illustrations and print style, and the book is overwhelming and at times difficult to...more
A really fun book about Julia Child. I find myself liking most of what I read by/about her, and this was definitely well done. The pictures were very endearing as well. The only thing I didn't like was that the entire book is written in script that looks like handwriting scrawled all over the page (which adds to the fun), but I think could be hard especially for not-so-strong readers to read.
Sep 25, 2012
Anne-Marie
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
biography,
books-for-foodies,
cookbooks,
history,
picture-book,
women-s-history,
world-war-2
A fun read, with fascinating tidbits on Julia Child's life. As a fan of stories in graphic format, I didn't mind the slightly chaotic structure to the pages. But I did hate the font, which was, I suppose, meant to look like handwriting. It did lend a casual air, which is fine, but will be hard for kids to read. Kids old enough to easily read the font will be too old for the book.
This is a great book to pair with Minette's Feast - Minette even handily appears on many pages. The illustrations are dense and it is almost graphic novel like, with the writing intended to look hand lettered around. It's a very fun book, with lots to pour over and lots of strange to kids foods to talk about. These books might make a neat introduction to learning more about France.
The boys loved this one. Every page is jam packed with scrawling script and childish drawings of Julia and her husband, colleagues and oddball ingredients. I never really can tell why certain books strike their fancy, but this one hit some sort of chord. Some weirdo, truffle and pate and pressed duck chord. Maybe it's their way of rebelling against veganism.
I'm trying to get better at reading graphic novels, and this was quick and fun practice. It's definitely not an all inclusive biography, but I think it provides a nice snapshot into Julia Child's life. It makes better for pleasure than for research reading, and I wonder if young readers would have trouble with the near cursive font. Fun, but not life changing.
Even if you couldn't cook, you loved watching Julia Child work her magic in the kitchen! The design of this book is feverish in its presentation. The story is hand written, sometimes printed, sometimes cursive and dialogue bubbles are everywhere. Actually, the text is everywhere. Don't look for standards margins! Excellent way to experience this diva of the culinary world.
A somewhat brave and also worthy idea to introduce children to Julia Child. But both from a design point of view and any kind of narrative arc to this nonfiction topic, it doesn't seem to this adult reader to work as a book for children, no matter what age. The readership will pass final judgment. I say bravo for the idea but uh for the execution.
The author tells the story of the fabulous Julia Child in graphic novel format. The sequence of Child's life experiences is very accurate and even though the information presented is necessarily brief, young readers will get a sense of her importance in the food world. Aimed at reader's in elementary school, I highly recommend the title.
Love the illustrations, but this went on waaaaay too long I thought. Do not need entire 38-step recipe. Not like my kids are going to make galatiere or whatever it was. I did love the illustrations, and I am all for any books that sprinkles French in there, and it was fun to talk about Julia Child. But still. Took us like 45 minutes to read.
This book is a tough one. Its well-written and fun, but the bottom line is that its hard to read. The pages are CRAMMED with content, but the narrative text is in a handwritten style, making it almost impossible to sort it out from the drawings and text bubbles and recipes. I think most kids' eyes would find it overwhelming.
A lively bio done in graphic/cartoon format which has some appeal but not for what I am looking for my library which is a book a child can do a report from. Still, it is charming and if one's budget afforded an additional purchase, this would round out more fact driven books on the enchanting Miz Julia.
This wonderful new picture book/ biography is brilliant! I love that each page is filled with vivid pictures and facts and information. The narrative is interesting and fun. I really think this book will appeal to kids who know it's out there! I will be recommending this book to students left and right!
I adore Julia Child (who doesn't?). Hartland does a great job of encapsulating Child's life, hitting the high points, and really letting the personality of her subject shine through. My only reservation: because the font is hand-written and a little crazy, it might be hard for some children to read.
Other than the very cluttered format which I found a bit confusing at times, I really enjoyed reading this book. Ever since watching "Julie and Julia," (the Julia bits were the best part IMHO) I have enjoyed learning about Julia Child, and this book gives you quick appetizers about her life.
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Sep 28, 2012 01:33pm