One Bite Won't Kill You: More than 200 Recipes to Tempt Even the Pickiest Kids on Earth

by Ann Hodgman, Roz Chast (Illustrator)

The toughest challenge many cooks face each day is feeding their own children. By her own admission, the writer and humorist Ann Hodgman's kids are the worst eaters in the world, and if she finds something one likes, the other inevitably hates it. Now, for all similarly beleaguered parents, Hodgman brings together more than two hundred recipes that everyone in the family can agree on, like Nonthreatening Cheese Fondue, Taco Bake, and Roast Pork Loin with Apple Crust, many of them gathered from fellow parents. ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU also includes: menus for holiday meals, recipes for birthday parties, suggestions for in-flight and car-trip snacks, sections on feeding toddlers, preschoolers, elementary school kids, and adolescents. With hundreds of tips and anecdotes from other parents, ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU makes the task of feeding kids not only a little easier, but also a whole lot more fun.

Genres: Cookbooks, Cooking

368 pages, Paperback

First published October 7, 1999

About the author

Ann Hodgman (born 1956) is an American author of more than forty children's books as well as several cookbooks and humor books and many magazine articles.

Ann was raised in Rochester, New York and graduated from Harvard College, where she was a staff member on the Harvard Lampoon and the Harvard Advocate. She was the food columnist for the magazines Spy and Eating Well. Her essay "No Wonder They Call Me a Bitch," about taste-testing various dog foods, was included in "Best American Essays." Hodgman is also known for her three cookbooks, Beat This!, Beat That! and One Bite Won't Kill You. She is the author of the 6-book vampire series My Babysitter is a Vampire and the nonfiction memoir "The House of a Million Pets."

Hodgman is married to author David Owen, a staff writer for The New Yorker, and they have two children, Laura and John.

Reviews

[Ruth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don't suppose one "reads" as much as peruses a cookbook. But this one is HILARIOUS...the author must be a standup comic on the side. That it's also an eminently practical book is a bonus. The author had me laughing out loud several times. Here's a telling excerpt: "In the olden days, children used to have bread and milk for dinner. In my house, we sometimes have onion rings. That's right: WE SOMETIMES HAVE ONION RINGS FOR DINNER. (With vegetables, of course. I'm not trashy.) When I go to all the trouble of making onion rings, I want them to be the star of the meal..." then, later while prefacing the recipe for--yes, it's really in the book--G.I. Joe-sicles: "If you have any spare G.I. Joes or other small action figures lying around, boys love it when you freeze juice in paper cups with a G.I. Joe stuck upside down in each cup, so that the legs form a handle. We call these 'G.I. Joe-Sicles' at my house. Don't try this with Barbies: a) girls tend not to enjoy destroying their toys in this way, and b) the hair problem."

See? HILARIOUS. Yes, there really are a few more complex recipes in the book than what I just shared, but there are so many purely fun AND practical ideas in here for cooking for picky kids that you just have to love it. And I don't even HAVE kids. I want this book! Purely for the comic effect (with a side order of decent recipes that are sure to come along). Very fun and funny!

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is one of my "Reviews-on-the-Fly"....Be Warned:

I became aware of this book through some Childrens Catalogue (to remain nameless because I can't remember) where it was tucked in the last pages.

Now that i own my copy...I was looking at it, the other night...and figured it needed a review

Ann Hodgman is a wonderful comedienne "on the page"...and Roz Chast is...well..."i swoon" at her talent..

The book itself is full of recipes...some good..some bland. BUT...this book is geared toward parents with kids who are "picky eaters"......an alien life form, when I was a kid. I ate what was served...or creeped downstairs after dark for a bowl of cereal...UNTIL i learned how to cook....for my own self ( and after my Mom went AWOL). Ms Hodgman does a bang up job in the Introduction....explaining the world of "Kids & Food"...i skipped that...no kids here...Her Afterword WHY NONE OF THIS MATTERS....matters....read it.

The recipes:

BROC BAKE-page220- is seriously fine...be sure to use Fresh Broccoli

PERFECT BROILED CHICKEN-page68- is just that

BREAKFAST "ZA-page 29- is so good..and a good reason to keep Crescent Roll Dough "in the house'

I recommend this to anyone who has to feed kids every day..if only for the humor element....and to anyone who loves to cook...and can tweak otherwise pedestrian recipes

4 Stars

[Debbie · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is hysterically funny. "But it's a cookbook. . . " you say. Yes it is my friend, but a really, really entertaining cookbook. Even if you don't cook, this one is worth picking up.

[Dara Tinius · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book. I think this is the first time I have read a cookbook cover to cover. Reading this book is like having a wisecracking cool mom teach you how to cook. The recipes aren't gourmet, they would probably make a vegan pass out, but I personally love her whole laid back attitude. The book is a tiny bit dated (references to ordering from a catalog by phone, adorable)but the sentiment behind them is timeless. My favorite quote "having picky children isn't a problem, it's a privilege" I don't ever have to worry about my kids starving, they will be okay and it's not the end of the world if they never eat broccoli. I felt such a weight lift off my shoulders after reading this. I can relax and stop making every meal a battle.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this when my now-thirteen year old was a little guy and VERY picky. This is not a gourmet cookbook or one for people whose kids might have nutritional issues or obesity issues. The recipes are tasty and fattening, for the most part, which is what I needed for my skinny, picky kid!

The illustrations and the captions are laugh-out-loud funny, which was one of the reasons I still keep this cookbook, even though I no longer use it. She really has a gift for capturing the whole kids+food experience!!

[Rebekah · Rating 4 out of 5]

I bought this picky-eater cookbook because I like Ann Hodgman's reliable recipes and Peg Bracken-like humor from her other books; plus Roz Chast did the illustrations. There are of course multiple recipes I'd like to try, but I've only made one recipe from One Bite. The gougere was good, but I like cooking in large batches and gougere doesn't lend itself well to that. The chapter "Why None of This Matters" at the end is worth the price of admission. "Give up the notion that having a child who's a picky eater is a problem," Hodgman writes. "It's not a problem. It's a luxury."

[Joanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a cookbook worth reading cover to cover. The idea is that all the recipes are picky-kid-friendly, but as a side effect they are picky-adult-friendly too. And the sidebars, stories, and comic illustrations are laugh out loud funny. All of the recipes that I have tried are achievable and yummy.

[Erica Olson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ann, please be my friend! I'm pretty sure you're one of the close friends I haven't met yet. :-)

Her writing is hilarious--witty, witty, witty. She writes cookbooks with real passion--not only for food but for the people she feeds.

[Kirsten · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this cookbook. It would be worth it for the Stir-Fried Chicken with Peanuts recipe, which I make about once a week because my son loves it. It would be be worth it without that recipe, because the book is that fun to read and the cartoons that fun to look at.

[Jennifer · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my most favorite cookbooks. Not only are the recipes good, but the book itself is a hoot to read!

[Krista · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great recipes, especially if you have picky eaters!

[Jodi · Rating 3 out of 5]

This cookbook is hilarious!
It totally makes me feel better about fighting my kids when it comes to finishing their food!
I didn't get to try any recipes... but loved the author's stories!

[Betty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is just fun to read. I was a picky eater and as a grown up its nice to read about other people who were or are pickier than I.

[Jane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Amusing,easy recipes that grown-ups like, too.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked the author's sense of humor, but my picky eater still won't eat most of the recipes in this book.

[elstaffe]

Pull quotes/notes
"If you have any spare G.I. Joes or other small action figures lying around, boys love it when you freeze juice in paper cups with a G.I. Joe stuck upside down in each cup, so that the legs form a handle. We call these 'G.I. Joe-Sicles' at my house.
Don't try this with Barbies: a) girls tend not to enjoy destroying their toys in this way, and b) the hair problem.
Another good G.I. Joe activity that's kind of food-related, in that it involves kitchen ingredients and is best done in a sink:
Make a paste out of baking soda and water. Pat this all over a G.I. Joe. Catapult him into a bowl of vinegar (or, for a more Dr.
No-ish touch, tie a string to him and dip him into the vinegar) and watch him hiss and foam. Hours of fun! And baking soda's cheap, and you can use up that old tarragon vinegar you bought for one recipe and never used again.
Should I make it clear that this is an activity for your kids, not you?" (287)

"Dust your rolling surface, your rolling pin, and all sides of the dough with confectioners' sugar." (341) this is such a good idea for rolling out cookies

[Cheryl]

I love the text in between the recipes. I don't love the recipes. Complicated (relatively speaking), fatty, sugary, or all of the above. I wound up not even reading all the text. I *might* make "cinnamon toasties" someday. Or I might adapt "Golden Delicious salad" or "Morning Glory salad."

If you have extremely finicky eaters and want them to try *something* other than plain macaroni and dessert; if your goal is a foot in the door of variety and nutrition is not a priority atm, then you might like this more than I did.

September 2024

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have had this cookbook for years. The recipes have a tally sheet next to them, where the family voted yes or no, whether they liked it or not.

White Pizza is one of my favorites. Good Goo Goulash, also a family pleaser.

She really tells you how to produce something that people will eat, that tastes good, and is not too difficult to make, since when you have a family you have a lot of things going on.

Highly recommend.

[Catherine · Rating 5 out of 5]

Worth it for the commentary alone.

[Marie M]

Roz Chast is real cool.

There's a weird Anita Bryant reference (she had a cookbook too?!) halfway through, but the recipes are some of the only ones my ADHD brain can wrap itself around.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A gift from my college roommate.
Great recipes for picky kids (and picky adults, too)!!