French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters by Karen Le Billon

Oct 05, 2012 Melissa rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's bold, in this day & age, to write a book wherein you admit that your forays into getting your children to eat foods that they were unused to resulted in them going to bed crying & hungry; that you carried ketchup in your purse when you took your kids to French restaurants; that after getting your husband to move back to his hometown in France, you told him a year later that you wanted to move back to Vancouver. And so I give LeBillon kudos for that, while at the same time I wonder h...more

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Jan 12, 2013 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

A more detailed (sometimes repetitive) look at the subject that most intrigued me about Bringing Up Bebe: the dramatically different approach to food and meals for French families, as compared to North American. Set mealtimes; no snacking whatsoever; healthy, natural and local foods; leisurely family mealtimes where enjoying food and each other's company is the priority; a calm expectation that if you try something enough times, you'll like it--these "food rules" are taken as a given by the Fren...more

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May 02, 2012 Liz rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I rather enjoyed this book, and appreciated Le Billon's self-deprecating tone. Le Billon (she's Canadian) and her French husband decide to relocate their family to his small village in Brittany and quickly learn that her kids' eating habits will not cut in the the strict food culture of France. I liked that she both embraced the French food culture and questioned it as well, and acknowledged that there are clear cultural differences in what the French value and what North Americans value. What I...more

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May 12, 2013 Nicole Handy rated it 3 of 5 stars

There were parts of this book that I really liked and others that bugged...You can get the gist of the book by reading the back where she has the 10 "French Food Rules" listed. The book is essentially a memoir of the year they moved to a small village in France and how they struggled to fit in because her kids (and herself) were such picky eaters. A few of my issues: She talks in sweeping generalizations of how ALL French kids eat this or that; similar to saying that all children in North Americ...more There were parts of this book that I really liked and others that bugged...You can get the gist of the book by reading the back where she has the 10 "French Food Rules" listed. The book is essentially a memoir of the year they moved to a small village in France and how they struggled to fit in because her kids (and herself) were such picky eaters. A few of my issues: She talks in sweeping generalizations of how ALL French kids eat this or that; similar to saying that all children in North America eat McDonalds every day (do they?...I hope not). That being said, I do think we have a culture in the US of eating while we are driving or walking and snacking all day--even if it doesn't apply to everyone. I have never moved my children to another country/culture so I don't know how protective a parent might be, but the first half of the book I could not get over how indulgent she was to her children giving in to all of their whining and defending their food choices. She is very resistant to helping them improve their food choices. Do other people defend their children's pickiness? I tend to be obsessed with finding new food for my kids and am embarrassed when they don't eat something placed in front of them.

It was fun to read about this village and buying food at the small market and hearing about the way the schools served healthy, hot meals each day. A few of the take aways for me: Although I limit snacks before meals, we do too much snacking in our family, even if they are healthy snacks. I have one child in particular who is not great at eating meals but begs for snacks soon after. The idea of actually feeling hunger before a meals is often a foreign concept. Hunger is good. It does make the food taste better.

I did finish this book with a disgust for the foods that we feed our children in the US, but not sure how to change the "culture" in the community. I feel like I'm always fighting the culture that brings fish crackers and marshmallows for snacks to preschool and fills my son's pockets with candy during the school day. I'll continue to feed them healthy food at home but I have little hope that the culture as a whole will change. (less)

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May 02, 2013 Whitney rated it 4 of 5 stars

I didn't pick this up because I'm any kind of Francophile (although I read & enjoyed Bringing up Bebe), but I read it because my friend recommended it to me, saying it made her and her family eat healthier.

Peppered with some great research to back up these principles, the ideas really make sense, regardless if you're French, American, Canadian, etc. I do think that the contrast between two cultures (French/North American) put things in perspective, even if it was a little sad to the North Am...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: food, got-books-bookclub, nonfiction, philosophy

This book was a book club pick, otherwise, honestly, I'd have chucked it back into the returns bin at the library after the first chapter. But, I read it. And I am glad I did.

First off, the author is ridiculously laissez-faire with her kids, especially at the beginning. Call me old-fashioned, but boundaries, people. Kids need them. And temper tantrums being a regular thing at the dinner table after the age of two? Um, not just no, but HELL no. So, and I am laughing my ass off as I say this, tha...more This book was a book club pick, otherwise, honestly, I'd have chucked it back into the returns bin at the library after the first chapter. But, I read it. And I am glad I did.

First off, the author is ridiculously laissez-faire with her kids, especially at the beginning. Call me old-fashioned, but boundaries, people. Kids need them. And temper tantrums being a regular thing at the dinner table after the age of two? Um, not just no, but HELL no. So, and I am laughing my ass off as I say this, thank God for this woman's judgmental in-laws! Her daughters are better off for the experience.

Karen Le Billon, husband, and two daughters head off to France, the husband's native country, for a one year experiment where the two adults can telecommute to their North American jobs and pick them back up in person when they return in 12 mos. Not a bad gig. She already knows that her cooking skills, such that they are, are not well-received by her husband's family, but she's game. She then, interestingly, attempts to maintain her multi-snack, cheerio-dripping, crumb-laden lifestyle in a clandestine manner and goes a few rounds with her family and friends about the differences between North American eating and French eating. She, um, loses. That is probably not a spoiler, given the title of the book.

In the end, her daughters are willing to put something other than dino-nuggets and baguettes with butter into their mouths and her cooking improves somewhat. The journey is amusing, interesting, and, at times, annoying as hell because the editors seems to have forced her to cough up an additional 50 pages or so that she did not have enough material to fill. Her words of wisdom are going to be a hard shock for some - I see what happens at the playgrounds - but are completely valid. And the journey *back* to North America is totally grounded in reality. Good for her for including it. I was impressed by that bit of honesty.

The book left me longing for schools that recognize eating is important and lunch should not be an afterthought shoved in between math and state-mandated 15 minutes of recess. I wished for a school cafeteria in my own country that cooked healthy, balanced, and not just edible (hard to find around here) but delicious meals. And I envied her ability to buy fresh fish, poultry, fruit and vegetables - all locally produced/caught/raised - each night for dinner.

In the end, her story of adding importance to your food and the bonds formed over a good meal eaten in a leisurely manner had an effect on my own life. I cleared off the dining room table, located and ironed my place mats and cloth napkins, made a simple centerpiece, found some dinner music, and started serving our meals at the dining room table again instead of the living room coffee table. We were already eating at the same time, but we weren't eating together, if you will. So now, we can hone our children's table manners, compare notes about the day, listen to some pretty music, and eat the same home cooked, balanced meals I was making before. Hopefully, we will figure out how to slow down while we do it, too.

I rated it a 3 star largely because of the repetitiveness of some of the story. I don't like that in this style of book; it a dumbing down I don't care for. Like, perhaps, you didn't get it the first three or four times it was said. But I do think it makes for a good read and you may find something in it to influence your meal times.(less)

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Apr 16, 2013 Nancy rated it 2 of 5 stars

Interesting view of eating in France. I take issue with the author's premise that breastfeeding on demand results in the "constant eating" phenomena she finds in N. American kids versus French kids. Rather I would place the blame on the food industry and its constant marketing of "snack" foods to children. It is healthier for the mother and the baby to follow the baby's lead while breastfeeding - this allows the child to learn to eat to satiety, a big part of the French child's education about f...more

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Apr 07, 2013 Alexandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

I found this book inspiring! I am the parent of an adventurous, fruit-and-vegetable-loving four-year-old eater, but I still found plenty to think about and take to heart in this book. The main take-aways for me were:

1) Even kids who like a variety of healthy foods will reach for starch, sugar, or processed foods when given the choice. (This seems obvious in retrospect, but I had somehow thought that if I simply cultivated a love of fruits and vegetables in my child, he would eat healthy on his o...more I found this book inspiring! I am the parent of an adventurous, fruit-and-vegetable-loving four-year-old eater, but I still found plenty to think about and take to heart in this book. The main take-aways for me were:

1) Even kids who like a variety of healthy foods will reach for starch, sugar, or processed foods when given the choice. (This seems obvious in retrospect, but I had somehow thought that if I simply cultivated a love of fruits and vegetables in my child, he would eat healthy on his own.)

2) In order for kids to actually be hungry enough at mealtimes to eat a decent amount of those fruits, vegetables, and proteins, they cannot snack between meals. (I had pretty much figured this out by the time I read this book, but had no idea how to go about banning snacking. Which leads me to #3...)

3) If you schedule an afternoon snack in the long stretch between lunch and dinner and let your child plan a tasty, but healthy, menu for it, it's a lot easier to ban snacking at unscheduled times. And there are positive ways to respond to your child complaining about being hungry in between. "It's only 2 hours until snack time and we're having smoothies! And guess what -- your smoothie will taste even better if you're hungry for it!" works better than "Too bad, you'll have to wait until snack time."

4) You are not a bad parent if you let your child feel hungry between meals. (This was hard for me to accept, having been raised in the kitchens of Russian-Jewish grandmothers.)

5) Being relaxed about food and focusing on enjoying a variety of foods works a lot better than pushing kids to eat, banning certain foods, or harping on health. (This was more of a reminder for me than a revelation, but it was a reminder that I needed.)

We followed Le Billon's prescription for banning snacking almost exactly: We instituted a 4:00 snack time, pushed dinner back to 7:00 (with a bath before dinner rather than after), and made a "no-snacking between meals" rule. I let my son plan the snack menu for the week, with the rules that he couldn't have something more than once a week and that sweet-but-healthy snacks had to alternate with fruit- or vegetable-based ones. While I didn't have beautiful French cookbooks for him to leaf through like Le Billon did, I did make a Pinterest board of simple, appealing recipes for him to choose from. This strategy worked almost as well for my son as Le Billon describes it working for her kids. He does complain between mealtimes, but he is not constantly opening the fridge and cupboards looking for the next snack anymore, and he eats his dinner with much more gusto! I have been following this rule, too, and it has helped me curb my own snacking habit.

I was also fascinated by this book's description of French people's relationship with food. Le Billon describes how French adults would never dream of eating outside of mealtimes, eating alone, or (gasp!) eating in the car. As someone who has been known to eat three meals a day in my car at times, I took that to heart. There are also really interesting accounts of how food is treated in French schools and how the French see us North Americans as the food snobs, since here only the well-off can afford good food, whereas there it is seen as a right for everyone.

In all, an inspiring, fascinating, and very readable book.(less)

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Mar 01, 2013 Emily rated it 3 of 5 stars

I had heard a lot about this book, so I knew mostly what to expect and I didn't gain much more than that. There were good points - my favorite being that you serve one substantial snack in the afternoon and don't hand out any other snacks throughout the day - but much of it was quite impractical for most of us. I would love to send my kids to a school where they are served a homemade three course lunch at a table with a tablecloth, but well, that doesn't happen here. Nor can I shop at an outdoor...more

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Feb 24, 2013 David rated it 2 of 5 stars

professor from Vancouver moves with her French husband and two young daughters to France for a year. She dutifully and (to my ear) humorlessly shapes the family to eat more like the French kids (3 meals plus one snack, dinner is late and takes forever, eat local and slow and limit processed stuff, more protein and fat and fewer carbohydrates, you're expected to try everything, though we won't flip out if you don't like something exotic the first time........), with an assist from what sounds lik...more

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Feb 22, 2013 Traci rated it 2 of 5 stars

This book needed an editor. It's divided into three sections--the first, a food/parenting based rambling memoir about Le Billon's move to France for one year. The second section is what the title promises--a focused rehashing of all of the lessons and 'rules' Le Billon implemented (that you already heard about in the first section). The final section is a small collection of recipes that is actually the highlight of the book--they all seem simple, easy, and healthful. The need for the second sec...more This book needed an editor. It's divided into three sections--the first, a food/parenting based rambling memoir about Le Billon's move to France for one year. The second section is what the title promises--a focused rehashing of all of the lessons and 'rules' Le Billon implemented (that you already heard about in the first section). The final section is a small collection of recipes that is actually the highlight of the book--they all seem simple, easy, and healthful. The need for the second section lies in the first section's rambling and rehashing and feels like the magazine article that this book should have been.

While there were many great lessons from the French approach, it deeply bothered me that Le Billon never provides information from American pediatricians on why it is often recommended here to have a several small 'meals' throughout the day versus three large meals and fasting between. The science is certainly there to support smaller and more frequent meals...but instead she lumps the idea of snacks into the idea of prepackaged snack foods of crap. I'm also disgusted that she appears to have come around to the French approach to heavily scheduled infant feeding. She mentions her 2 day old nephew crying hysterically in the background while his mother casually mentioned that it would be like that for another two hours before his next scheduled feeding. Scheduled feedings from birth is detrimental to both newborns and breastfeeding, and the AAP has come out firmly against this sort of rigid scheduling so early. There is a big difference between not letting a toddler graze on snack food all day and then being shocked that they won't eat their dinner and letting a two day old newborn nurse to bring in the mother's breastmilk. It's this sort of anecdote that totally blew my mind. She seems to promote ALL aspects of French eating and habits as inherently superior or necessary byproducts of their better approach to food. (Another great example of 'I'd never want to raise my children to be like that' is when she inconveniences a friend to come watch her kids so she can take her husband [who has just had a seizure] to the hospital and is told the next day that she should really send wine and chocolates to both women inconvenienced because they were very upset that their meal had been ruined. I'd rather live in a country of fat diabetics than self-centered, empathy-less assholes, but she seems to blow this off as a 'different folks, different strokes' kind of issue.) (less)

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Feb 05, 2013 Gina rated it 5 of 5 stars

Considering how often I talked about this book while I was reading it, I have to give it 5 stars! The ideas introduced in the book were just so sensible but mind-shifting.

On the surface, it's a book about how to introduce food to children in a way that allows them to appreciate a variety of foods while adopting a naturally healthy diet and approach to food. However, considering the immature/undeveloped relationship Americans have with food (relative to the French), I (not a parent) could relate...more Considering how often I talked about this book while I was reading it, I have to give it 5 stars! The ideas introduced in the book were just so sensible but mind-shifting.

On the surface, it's a book about how to introduce food to children in a way that allows them to appreciate a variety of foods while adopting a naturally healthy diet and approach to food. However, considering the immature/undeveloped relationship Americans have with food (relative to the French), I (not a parent) could relate to the "rules" the author lays out for the children. And below the surface, the discussions about the way the French view food and its role in one's life was absolutely fascinating to me.

A few ideas and quotes that I highlighted in the e-book:

"French psychologists and nutritionists have systematically assessed the average number of times children have to taste new foods before they willingly agree to eat them: the average is seven, but most parenting books recommend between ten and fifteen. So whereas I often assumed that my children didn't like a particular type of food, my French friends would simply assume their children hadn't tried it enough times."

"Underlying this focus on food education for young children is a simple principle: 'Chances are, my children are not going to grow up to go to Harvard, or to be major league sports stars, concert musicians, or NASA astronauts. But no matter who they grow up to be, HOW and WHAT my children eat will be of great importance to their health, happiness, success, and longevity." <-- wow, that makes so much sense to me!

"Each year, teacher began with simple lessons on the senses that encouraged children to develop skills of introspection and verbalization. Through exploring how food experiences are composed of taste, vision, smell, touch, and hearing, children learn to explore food through their five senses. This [is called] taste training." <-- I think I could benefit from some taste training myself, to expand my experience of eating from a usually mindless activity to a true enjoyment

"Children's food is not fuel. It is made up of intangible culture, words, and shared quantifiable pleasures as much as calories and vitamins. --Dr. Simone Gerber, French pediatrician"

"What I saw in France made me realize that HOW our children eat is largely influenced by what and how we BELIEVE they can eat."

"Take a look at your schedule, including kids' extracurricular activities. Is your busy lifestyle preventing you from eating proper meals? Being able to manage one's schedule in order to make sufficient time for healthy eating is an important skills to teach your children."(less)

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Nov 14, 2012 LauraW rated it 4 of 5 stars

Although I do not have young children any more, I enjoyed reading this book. As a substitute teacher, I go to many different schools and I have previously taught regularly in quite a few more and I am not happy with the eating habits I see kids developing. It started with water. There was a big push to have kids drink more water and since the water from drinking fountains was often not very good, kids started bringing their own water bottles. Then kids would substitute juice for plain water, whi...more Although I do not have young children any more, I enjoyed reading this book. As a substitute teacher, I go to many different schools and I have previously taught regularly in quite a few more and I am not happy with the eating habits I see kids developing. It started with water. There was a big push to have kids drink more water and since the water from drinking fountains was often not very good, kids started bringing their own water bottles. Then kids would substitute juice for plain water, which soon was switched out for energy drinks. The morning milk and cookies snack, became the morning juice and crackers snack. Then came the decision that kids should determine when they were hungry and thirsty, so they should be allowed to eat whenever they felt they needed to. In some schools, VERY MANY of them, actually, this has become "kids can eat all day, whenever they want". This has led to an INCREDIBLE amount of food being thrown out - from their school lunches or from their packed lunches, usually food that is higher in nutrition than sweet drinks and chips of various sorts. Even at the high school and middle school level, in MANY schools, kids are eating virtually all day. I had one very chubby girl tell me that she "needed" to eat all day, or else she would suffer from faintness. She could have been telling the truth, I have no way of knowing, but it certainly wasn't doing her any good to be eating cookies all day.

So, it was very interesting to me to read about a different culture where this was not accepted. The only problem with this book for me personally is that I really do not like to cook. It made me wish very much that I did.

I must also admit to skimming a lot of the latter part of the book. Still, if either of my daughters ever decide to have children, I may seriously consider buying this for them. And should I ever have a say in the matter, I would also seriously advocate for changing the eating habits of children in American schools. (less)

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Joyce I like your review. I am appalled at the eating habits I see among my childrens classmates. I have been strict on my children since infancy about eati...more
Apr 07, 2013 05:48pm

LauraW When my kids were growing up, I think we had good eating habits, too. Unfortunately, as they hit the teen years, those eating habits were a bit harder...more
Apr 07, 2013 06:17pm

Joyce I will recommend this book to my friends. It is hard to control everything our kids eat, ESP when they get older, but laying a foundation for healthy...more
Apr 07, 2013 07:14pm

Nov 05, 2012 Cindy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, food, the-french-think-they-are-better-th

It really bugs me the way the French think they are so much better than us. Every few months or so there is book telling us all about it.

The worst part is that they are mostly correct.

I agree 100% with how the French teach their children to eat. They are brought up that vegetables are delicious. Radishes with salt and cucumbers with vinegar are a couple of examples of their "gouter" meal, or after school snack.

French children aren't brought up thinking that fruit snacks or processed mac and ch...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Christina rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is an easy read, which has become more important to me since I have become the mother of a small child. I do hope to regain my full brain capacity at one point, but now is not the time yet.

I already had somewhat of an understanding how these French rules for eating work, as I am originally from Germany where rules are different, but similar to France. One major rule in France is that adults do not snack, and children only snack once a day. I do agree with Billon that here in the US (and in...more This is an easy read, which has become more important to me since I have become the mother of a small child. I do hope to regain my full brain capacity at one point, but now is not the time yet.

I already had somewhat of an understanding how these French rules for eating work, as I am originally from Germany where rules are different, but similar to France. One major rule in France is that adults do not snack, and children only snack once a day. I do agree with Billon that here in the US (and in her native Canada) kids do seem to snack all day long. I see it all day around me in play groups, in the park, in town, etc. Unfortunately these snacks are not very healthy over all. I do see fruit sometimes, but mostly snacks are along the lines of the ever present Goldfish cracker. Even adults seem to carry at least a cup of coffee at all times of day (and some of those coffee creations are full desserts themselves). While this is quite obvious and shouldn't need pointing out, I did think it was good to be reminded that this does not have to be the normal state of things.

The French believe that you can be hungry between meals without suffering. It just means you will appreciate your next meal more.
I have since cut out my daughter's morning snack and she is definitely less picky at lunch time now.

Another major point LeBillon makes is that the French let their children try anything and everything to open their minds and palettes for a more varied diet. They just keep putting different foods in front of them until they are tempted to try them. There is no food in France that is deemed "kid's food."

It is also true that it seems not to be important for many American families (I am not saying all) to sit down together for dinner at a nicely laid out table. While our table set up has deteriorated somewhat with a now three year old in the house, we did retain the habit of sitting down for a proper dinner without television or other distractions most every day.

Being overweight myself, I would like to steer clear of instilling wrong habits in my child while at the same time not wanting to cause any ridiculous fear of food. She is so far a perfectly healthy normal weight toddler and I hope that books like this one will help me keep on the right track.

Le Billon seems to have done here research well. She included a source list which I have not set out to verify or prove wrong yet, but at least it seems credible.

(less)

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Sep 23, 2012 Anne rated it 4 of 5 stars

I would classify two out of my three kids picky eaters. After recently reading Bringing Up Bebe by Pamela Druckerman I was in French mode and this book looked interesting. Who wouldn't want to cure picky eaters? I have been experimenting on my kids while reading this book over the last month. As a family we are trying so many new foods and although I can't say they LOVE something like brussel sprouts, they will eat them when I make them into a soup. Which is amazing! It has changed my view on fa...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Betsy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

A very interesting read about a family who moved to Brittany (France) for a year to live near the husband's family. The wife is Canadian, the husband is French, and they met at Oxford. I thought this made the book that much more interesting. If I dragged my family to France, I doubt I would have gotten as much "inside information" on the way things happen at the family level as this woman did (after all, her in-laws were all there, all French, and firmly committed to the French way of life).

I th...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Margaret Sankey rated it 2 of 5 stars

I must preface this with the note that I do not have children, and have no idea how or if I could deal with crying and whining. However, this is how the cousins and I were raised--the privilege was all adults, and we wanted to sit at the table and pretend to know what was going on while they talked economics in French and literature in German, we knew food was laboriously prepared by people we respected and that it was offensive not to eat it after that effort, if you didn't want something (inab...more

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Jul 04, 2012 Smckever rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author is a Rhodes Scholar and a professor. In typical academic style she is way too repetitive with her points in each chapter.

The message of the book and anecdotes are very good, I just think it could have been edited down to less than 100 pages, or made in the form of a cookbook instead, since there are several recipes in the back anyhow.

The back cover has an illustrated version of the "10 French Food Rules", and you really could just read those and be done with it.

Not really a book th...more

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Jun 30, 2012 Little rated it 2 of 5 stars

To sum up the entire book in a sentence: people will rise or fall to your expectations of them. There are a lot of fun facts about French school menus and statistics about health, but basically that's the book. There are ten "rules," but they don't amount to more than saying "expect your children to eat like adults."

Actually, the French approach to children is very much like that. French people see children as adults in training. So from the earliest days of a baby's life, he or she is expected...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Kelley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, non-fiction

I really enjoyed the contrast in the French perception of food vs. those in North America. I am a picky eater (no fruit or seafood) and worry that my kids would inherit the same issues. Without reading this book, I might not have had the tools to prevent my future kids from sharing my anxious relationship with food.

In my opinion, the last generation (or two) have lost the basic skills of buying, storing, preparing and eating food. For example, there are many vegetables I don't consider buying b...more

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Jun 10, 2012 Mickie rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am ambivalent about this book. I agree that North Americans have some serious issues with food that need to be addressed and I liked the recipes in the book--I would have loved more of these recipes and I would have liked them to be interspersed throughout the book closer to the anecdotes about the recipes. I am interested in other cultures and other ways of eating and I found the book fascinating and a bit shocking in parts.

On the other hand,(hold your applause AND your rotten tomatoes, pleas...more

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Jun 06, 2012 Pumpkinbear rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: parenting

In this year-long culinary memoir, author Le Billon gets her compliant French husband to move with her and their two small children from Canada to his tiny French hometown for several months, where she discovers that French people respect food and their health too much to stuff themselves with monotonous junk food all day long, and it's apparently such a revelation that she rehabilitates her entire approach to food over it, but she also doesn't make any friends, so she forces her husband and chi...more In this year-long culinary memoir, author Le Billon gets her compliant French husband to move with her and their two small children from Canada to his tiny French hometown for several months, where she discovers that French people respect food and their health too much to stuff themselves with monotonous junk food all day long, and it's apparently such a revelation that she rehabilitates her entire approach to food over it, but she also doesn't make any friends, so she forces her husband and children, who've gone through a tough adjustment but are finally very happy there, to move back to Canada with her, where everyone's again miserable while they go through yet another round of culture shock, sigh.

Le Billon makes a gigantic big deal out of her daughters' culinary transformation in France (which she fought awfully hard for awfully long to be so proud of it now), but to make the transformation seem more marvelous, she sets up a false dichotomy by claiming that her children, whom she has trained to be EXTREMELY picky eaters, have quite normal North American diets. Le Billon is apparently accustomed to feeding them sweets and packaged snacks constantly throughout their days, cooks them separate meals of pasta with cheese at every dinner, and buys them fast food regularly. Just as you can't get me to believe that ALL French kids eat everything, you also can't get me to believe that this is typical North American kid cuisine. Yes, I know it happens, and yes, I know it happens with a lot of families, but if you pretend that it happens with EVERY family, and if you pretend that your kids are totally normal when you let it happen with them, then your rehabilitation into French cuisine is just that much more noteworthy.

I also find it disconcerting how extremely Le Billon flips to the French side, when she finally does recognize the evidence that when she gets out of her kids' way and lets her French in-laws and acquaintances calmly handle their meals, her kids actually do enjoy a wide variety of healthy foods. For one, she equates her self-described attachment parenting style as the reason why her kids have bad food habits, because she claims that the "books" told her to let her kids eat when and where and however they want. I also attachment parent my children, and the books didn't tell ME that, nor would I have obeyed them if they had, because attachment parenting is much more about following your own instincts as a parent than about permitting your child to fingerpaint with yogurt at the table, if indeed the author really found an attachment parenting handbook that told her to do that. For another, she actually seems near the end of the book to think that French parents of newborns have got something right by scheduling their infants' meals very far apart, starting them on solids very early, and weaning them altogether by a year or so; the French breastfeeding rate is extremely low.

Mind you, I don't care how long the French breastfeed, as long as their kids are happy and healthy and their parents love them, but thinking wistfully that maybe your own kid would have been a great sleeper and a better eater if you'd scheduled them and weaned them early is a major jump away from attachment parenting. The author also really seems to come to support the extremely militant view of (some of) the French about snacking. Seriously, French parents flipped out when she tried to give their kids an unscheduled snack!!! of strawberries. Seriously? Her older kid's teacher wouldn't let her kid get a drink of water between meals, since correct mealtimes are more important than proper hydration. It's great that the author finally figured out how to parent her children better regarding food, but there is no need to throw out breastfeeding, snacks, and between-meals hydration just because (some of) the French do. Strawberries are okay to eat between meals. Water fountains don't make us picky eaters.

The author's kids had a hard adjustment to France--it's a big change, and not just in the cuisine. The school system is very different, and discipline is very different, etc. So when the author finally gets bored of France and drags everyone back to Canada, those poor kids, the youngest of whom has apparently been permitted to forget how to speak English altogether, have another drastic change to go through as, once again, the cuisine is very different, the school system is very different, and discipline is very different. The author makes a big deal out of how lousy the grocery store food is, until she finally makes a big deal about learning about the existence of farmer's markets, and she makes a big deal out of how lousy her kids' school meals are, and how they don't have enough time to eat, and how this leads to the need for more packaged snacks, etc. And then she decides to try to get hot gourmet lunches made mandatory in her younger child's classroom, only to get shot down, and she's apparently come so far in her transformation that she just doesn't understand why no other parents would be for that. I mean, my goodness, each preschooler's lunch would only cost $3!

One reminder that I really appreciated from this book is the author's lesson that (some of) the French savor a wide variety of foods every week, and hate to repeat the same meal too often. I often cook the same meal every week, because it's thrifty, healthy, and everyone likes it, but it's good to remember to make the effort to branch out, as well.

This book neatly encapsulates one of my biggest pet peeves: the need to do what everyone else is doing regarding parenting. You do have the power to make your life what you want it to be, and yes, you can parent your children in your own way. You don't have to feed your kids fast food and goldfish crackers, even if you think everyone else does. You may give them healthy snacks, even if you live in France and they think you're crazy for it. If you absolutely can't stand the lunch program at your school and you think it's ruining your child's health for life, you don't actually have to send your child to that school. Sure, homeschooling or facing down French strangers who shake their fingers at you for giving your kid a strawberry between meals is terribly difficult, but if something's important to you, then you make it work. And so in that way, I'm really glad that the author has discovered farmer's markets, and sushi, and gourmet chocolates, and now feels as if she is going her own road there in Canada, away from fast food and white flour pasta and goldfish crackers. Her kids are far healthier, she's a more empowered parent, and although she apparently doesn't know any other families like her there, she'll find them, because there are plenty to find.(less)

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May 31, 2012 Lee-ann Sleegers rated it 5 of 5 stars

French Kids Eat Everything (and yours can too) by Karen Le Billon from Harper Collins 2012

I'm always looking for ways to get Miss R to eat better, even though most of my friends and the family doctor don't think she's picky. By reading Karen's book I've discovered that Miss R maybe isn't much different then most of her peers, but that doesn't mean things can't change.

French Kids Eat Everything presents things in such a way that it is easy to see where the two cultures, North American and French...more

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May 31, 2012 Darren rated it 5 of 5 stars

It is too good to be true, it must be propaganda issued by the French government. French children eat everything? EVERYTHING?

Well, maybe some of the problems related to what we (and our children) eat are cultural in general and some of the guilt and "need to change" should be focussed more at the parents instead of the children as, after all, maybe the child only does what the child knows? Here in a serious, yet light-hearted text, the author looks at the "education" she and her family received...more It is too good to be true, it must be propaganda issued by the French government. French children eat everything? EVERYTHING?

Well, maybe some of the problems related to what we (and our children) eat are cultural in general and some of the guilt and "need to change" should be focussed more at the parents instead of the children as, after all, maybe the child only does what the child knows? Here in a serious, yet light-hearted text, the author looks at the "education" she and her family received when they moved from North America to a small town in northern France and through her own experiences the author dispenses advice (or should that be common sense) which has the capability to change dramatically the lives of you and your family along the way.

There appears to be a number of "rules" that are much more entrenched in France than in other countries that work to form a healthy eating habit, good manners, positive behaviour and much more besides. Certainly the author, who considered herself and her family to be fairly balanced before the move, seems to have benefitted by it. It is not a simple change (such as using a different currency, eating a different foodstuff, etc) but maybe some reprogramming as to how life is approached. The changes can even have a number of positive side-effects, such as children loving and eating many vegetables such as spinach and sprouts without them being "hidden" or "amended" by other substances along the way. Kids eat what adults eat, no short-order cooking, as the book says. It does sound sensible...

Some of the reported new norms do seem, at first glance, to go against what is generally accepted such as it IS OK to feel hungry between meals and that one should eat not for just nutrition's sake but also for your personal enjoyment. Yet, when you start to think a bit more about this it can make a lot of sense. The food served at mealtimes can have a more defined purpose, a clear role in the family hierarchy that transforms into a wider society-at-large. Many things are interlinked when you don't expect them necessarily to be. When you then look at things through "the other end of the telescope" you can see that maybe there is a kernel or two of truth here. If you are in a family where there is always a battle over food and what a child might eat, that mealtimes are not so harmonious occasions, that the family does not eat together, share things together and grow together, maybe one can see where some problems start and expand from. So a little change might go a long way.

Naturally, there is never a perfect, one size fits all solution and it is true that many French families can have problems of their own as even that country is undergoing cultural changes brought about through various means. This is not a deep scientific book with psychological roots. It is an accessible book for the average reader whether you have children or not. Children are just mini adults or is it that adults are just big children? For those desiring much more further reading resources the author has placed an extensive bibliography at the rear and there is a very comprehensive index to boot.

You might get most benefit by reading this book sequentially or at least through entire chapters at a time and the text is quite compelling for a subject that has the potential to be dry and stuffy. This is a not a quick snack self-help book where you expect to see change before you have even closed the book. Make the investment in time and effort and you might be justly rewarded. Towards the end of the book there are many recipes that look rather tasty and this could be a foundation stone for your new family eating regime. The author has set out a number of rules, or could one call them recommended guidelines, that might help set you and your family along a new track.

This reviewer is usually a little sceptical and more reserved towards such "you can change.." type of books as they invariably are a very personal thing that you either get or don't get. Yet this book cleverly crosses many levels and boundaries so that even if you are not presently receptive for advice and don't plan to change, you will get a lot of good knowledge and information without even trying through the power of reading and osmosis. And should you really think that a change is necessary then there are even greater potential rewards for you to come.

The book's relatively low price tag, its sheer engaging style and its format mean that you have a great help book, a great book to read when travelling and a great little recipe book combined. Why not give it a try? If nothing else, you will either reinforce or reduce some possible prejudices along the way.

French Kids Eat Everything, written by Karen Le Billon and published by William Morrow & Co./HarperCollins. ISBN 9780062103291, 305 pages. Typical price: GBP12. YYYYY.

// This review appeared in YUM.fi and is reproduced here in full with permission of YUM.fi. YUM.fi celebrates the worldwide diversity of food and drink, as presented through the humble book. Whether you call it a cookery book, cook book, recipe book or something else (in the language of your choice) YUM will provide you with news and reviews of the latest books on the marketplace. //(less)

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May 11, 2012 Abby Lyn rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having just read the best-selling French parenting book "Bringing up Bebe," I launched into a more focused examination of French gastronomie and its impact on their children's eating habits with "French Kids Eat Everything." Le Billon describes (in an admittedly much too long book) her daughters' remarkable transformation from typical North American picky eaters to enthusiasic mini gourmets after her family's move from Vancouver to Brittany. Le Billon translates most of what she learned from liv...more Having just read the best-selling French parenting book "Bringing up Bebe," I launched into a more focused examination of French gastronomie and its impact on their children's eating habits with "French Kids Eat Everything." Le Billon describes (in an admittedly much too long book) her daughters' remarkable transformation from typical North American picky eaters to enthusiasic mini gourmets after her family's move from Vancouver to Brittany. Le Billon translates most of what she learned from living in France into ten food rules, including no snacking, eating less processed food and strict parental authority over meal selection.

The author discovers however how difficult it can be to implement these rules upon her family's return to North America. For the French, eating is a way of life, a proud symbol of national culture, and educating a child to enjoy a diverse and healthy diet is a primary concern of both French parents and their central government. I found learning about the French way of life when it comes to diet to be the most fascinating part of this book. As an example of the cultural emphasis on healthy eating, the main meal of a child's day, for those attending the state-run cantines (day cares), is their impressive version of a school lunch - a multi course selection of freshly prepared local artistan cheeses, meats and fruits/veggies, sometimes even created by on-site school chefs. The French believe in a "democratization" of good eating that reaches all social classes in the country, but this worthy goal is not without its drawbacks, namely in terms of a lack of parental control and individual choices.

We live in a culture of increasing obesity rates, in which we celebrate with food, reward with food, and even punish with food - and making changes without an encompassing societal ethos to back parents up is a challenge. For example, I have tried to limit snacking only to find that my daughter's piano teacher rewarded her end-of-year class with cupcakes at 4:45 pm, just a half hour before our family dinner. My kids' preschool offers a daily mid morning snack, and it's nearly impossible to attend a playdate that doesn't involve a snack for the kids (to us, this is good manners on the part of the host). Despite the difficulties a typical American family would have fully adopting the French way of eating, this book remains a thought-provoking look at a society that has successfully assisted parents in raising healthy, happy and adventurous eaters - and an important rallying cry for our country to make some much-needed cultural changes.(less)

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Apr 24, 2012 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

The author writes about how she changed her kids eating habits to make them more 'French' during a move to that country, and how it made them more disciplined, and helped the entire family to eat more healthily. She raises some interesting points about how we feed our kids - most pointedly, about modern North American snacking. It's no wonder so many kids are obese when we give them unhealthy snacks 3 times a day! She also raises good points about eating slow, and taking a little more time to pr...more

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Nov 06, 2012 Rachel rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: cookbooks-and-food, parenting

I enjoyed the author's story of moving from Vancouver to France to live there for one year and try this food experiment, which wasn't as easy as she originally thought it would be. Having lived overseas for 9 months while at school, I know how hard it can be to be a foreigner in another country, even if you speak the language (which sadly the author didn't). I did like that she included some of the recipes she regularly uses with her family in the back of the cookbook, most of which are describe...more I enjoyed the author's story of moving from Vancouver to France to live there for one year and try this food experiment, which wasn't as easy as she originally thought it would be. Having lived overseas for 9 months while at school, I know how hard it can be to be a foreigner in another country, even if you speak the language (which sadly the author didn't). I did like that she included some of the recipes she regularly uses with her family in the back of the cookbook, most of which are described throughout.

While I enjoyed the book and her 10 rules, I do find some of them a bit difficult to implement in the States and with our family situation. Rule #1 is that parents are in charge of their child's food education, which I agree with, and not the children themselves. Rule #2 is particularly hard for me as I have a tendency to do this myself, therefore making it hard to regulate with my child (avoid emotional eating). Rule #3 and #4 go together and are two of my favorites, i.e. kids eat what parents eat and there is no short-order cooking involved and families eat together at the table. I understand what she/the French are saying but these are kind of hard when you don't have room for a kitchen table because you live in a really small house. Although I will definitely demand we have room for a dining table in our next place. Rule #5 is eat veggies of all colors and don't eat the same main dish; Rule #6 is you don't have to like it but you do have to taste it, both of which is common sense really. Rule #7 is doable, that is limiting snacks to two maximum a day. I really like Rule #8, which is slow cooking and eating, taking your time on both gives maximum enjoyment (which is hard to teach to my husband as he scarfs his food down). Rule #9 is eat mostly homemade food and save treats, but no processed food. This is really hard to avoid, especially when you are broke all of the time. I try my hardest to make sure that my son at least is not eating crap, even if his parents are. Rule #10 is that eating should be joyful, not stressful, so use the rules but don't go crazy. 3 1/2 stars. (less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Nestled in a small village in Brittany, France; Le Billon unlocks the secret rules of French food culture. "French Kids" explores the eating habits and rituals of the French and North American cultures. Despite the quasi-food worship of the French, Le Billon observes that few French children are overweight and obesity is almost non-existent. Through exploration (and some embarassing mishaps) she develops 10 Rules for healthy and happy eating.

An important observation for me was that the French e...more

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Apr 05, 2013 Kelly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: foodies, non-fiction

I thought this would be a cute, funny story about the adventures of a family in France. And it was funny, especially when her daughter, who refused to eat anything but pasta with parmesan cheese for lunch, was suddenly forced to face a four course meal at school. But it didn't take long for the mom to start to annoy me. She whined so much about how she hated to force her kids to eat and wanted to let her kids pick their own meals and it was normal for them not to want to eat anything other than...more

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title link	preview: French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters
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French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy, Healthy Eaters

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