Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child

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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 cooking classes she took in Paris, to the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, to the funny moments of being a chef on TV. This is a comprehensive and enchanting picture book biography, told in many panels and jam-packed with lively, humorous, and child-friendly details. Young chefs and Julia Child fans will exclaim, “ooooh la la,” about this book, which is as energetic and eccentric as the chef herself.

Jessie’s Choice Top-10 Julia Recipes

1. Gallantine. Illustrated step-by-step in my book. Get out the minced calf’s udder and the pickled tongue! Ambitious cooks will follow it with the recipe just below.

2. Chocolate log cake (bûche de Noël). An edible crafts project with the kids that calls for making meringue mushrooms and marzipan leaves.

3. Bouillabaisse. Say “boo-ya-BESS”. See the Marseille page in my book for the last word.

4. Baked Alaska. Oohs and aahs all around. Save time and construct it with store-bought cake and ice-cream but coat it with home-made meringue. What to do with all the leftover egg yolks? Make….

5. Mayonnaise. Julia developed her own special technique and before publication in “Mastering the Art of French Cooking”, guarded her secret recipe with skills learned in the OSS.

6. Boeuf Bourguignon. Classic beef stew.

7. Calf’s brains in brown butter sauce (cervelles au beurre noir). Does eating brains make one brainier? I’ll not be the guinea pig.

8. Rabbit stew (rabbit ragout). After the pet bunny has chewed through yet another electrical cord: a solution.

9. Plain French bread (pain Français). Hundreds of pounds of flour and thousands of hours of experimentation went into perfecting this recipe. “How can a nation be called great if its bread tastes like Kleenex?” asked Julia.

10. Crème brûlée. Rich custard dessert with crispy melted sugar crust. As Julia liked to say, “Every woman should have a blow torch!”