“It takes a brave couple to move two picky–eater kids into a French small town and convert them to foodie omnivores. We have much to learn from European food traditions, and the contrast between French and North American school lunches is a striking example. A must–read for teachers and parents.” — Marion Nestle, Professor of Nutrition, Food Studies, and Public Health at New York University and author of What to Eat
“Humorous as well as instructive, this culinary adventure will change the lives of parents and children alike. . . . Karen Le Billon and her children learn that it’s okay to feel hungry between meals, turn to mindful eating, and learn the importance of enjoying one’s food.” — Patricia Wells, author of The Provence Cookbook
“This book is not only about how to teach children (and yourself) to eat well and happily for life, it’s a book about how to help build and maintain the foundations of any civilized society. I loved it. Essential reading, whether you have children or not.” — Laura Calder, author of Dinner Chez Moi and host of French Food at Home
“A wonderful—and important—book. One family’s topsy-turvy culinary transformation becomes an in-depth exploration of the habits that have kept French kids loving food (and eating spinach) for centuries.” — Elizabeth Bard, author of Lunch in Paris
“A fascinating and valuable read.” — Lynne Rossetto Kasper
“A breezy but practical volume for hurried parents looking to keep their kids well-fed. . . . [The] tone is straightforward, generous, and gentle. That Le Billon concludes with a small collection of kid-friendly recipes makes this foodie manifesto all the more accessible.” — Publishers Weekly
“Le Billon . . . strategically identified questions she faced while living abroad: Why were French kids tidier eaters? Why did they sit quietly at restaurants? Why did her daughter’s teacher suggest she see a therapist when she wanted to pack her school lunch?” — BonAppetit.com
“Portrays the stark contrast between French foodways— valuing communal meals, diverse foods and good taste— and Americans’ round-the-clock snacking and narrow, market-driven tastes…We now have the occasional course that lets us glimpse the soul nourishment that marks the French approach to food.” — Portland Press Herald
Humorous as well as instructive, this culinary adventure will change the lives of parents and children alike. . . . Karen Le Billon and her children learn that it’s okay to feel hungry between meals, turn to mindful eating, and learn the importance of enjoying one’s food.
Portrays the stark contrast between French foodways— valuing communal meals, diverse foods and good taste— and Americans’ round-the-clock snacking and narrow, market-driven tastes…We now have the occasional course that lets us glimpse the soul nourishment that marks the French approach to food.
This book is not only about how to teach children (and yourself) to eat well and happily for life, it’s a book about how to help build and maintain the foundations of any civilized society. I loved it. Essential reading, whether you have children or not.
A wonderful—and important—book. One family’s topsy-turvy culinary transformation becomes an in-depth exploration of the habits that have kept French kids loving food (and eating spinach) for centuries.
A fascinating and valuable read.
Le Billon . . . strategically identified questions she faced while living abroad: Why were French kids tidier eaters? Why did they sit quietly at restaurants? Why did her daughter’s teacher suggest she see a therapist when she wanted to pack her school lunch?
It takes a brave couple to move two picky–eater kids into a French small town and convert them to foodie omnivores. We have much to learn from European food traditions, and the contrast between French and North American school lunches is a striking example. A must–read for teachers and parents.
Part cultural study, memoir, and children's food guide, Le Billon's book is a breezy but practical volume for hurried parents looking to keep their kids well-fed. A mother of two young girls (Sophie and Claire), the author recalls the year her family lived in Pléneuf Val-André, France, her husband Philippe's hometown on the Brittany coast. She compares North American eating habits (e.g., fast-food consumption, constant snacking) to French norms they learned along the way—"French parents gently compel their children to eat healthy food. They expect their kids to eat everything they are served, uncomplainingly." In due time, Le Billon (Eau Canada) drafts a set of rules for her daughters, strategies she believes readers can easily follow as well—parents should "schedule meals and menus;" "Kids should eat what adults eat: no substitutes and no short-order cooking;" and perhaps most importantly: parents "are in charge of food education!" Her tone is straightforward, generous, and gentle. That Le Billon concludes with a small collection of kid-friendly recipes—including a Five-Minute Fish en Papillote and Clafoutis (sweet cherry soufflé)—makes this kid-friendly foodie manifesto all the more accessible. (Apr. 3)
More than 50 years ago, families ate meals together at the table on a regular schedule, children weren't served separate meals, and snacking between meals wasn't rampant. When food advocate Le Billon (environment & sustainability, Univ. of British Columbia) moved her half-Canadian, half-French family to France, she was surprised to find out that this is how the French still live. Quickly acknowledging that her child-centered method of parenting has spawned two picky eaters, she embarked on a yearlong food experiment to analyze the French culture of parenting and food and devised ten French "food rules." In her view, French parents are stricter, more demanding, and less indulgent than North American parents and, as a result, she concludes, French children have more self-control at the table and eat what is served to them. After a year of food-related misunderstandings, arguments, gaffes, and faux pas, the family moved back to Canada, where Le Billon unsuccessfully tried to institute the French food rules at her daughter's school. VERDICT By the end, Le Billon's obsession with French food culture and French children who obediently enjoy eating everything they are served becomes both annoying and exhausting. Parents looking to experiment with diet changes may wish to focus on the last chapter, which summarizes Le Billon's rules.—Pauline Baughman, Multnomah Cty. Lib., Portland, OR
Karen Le Billon gives a fascinating account of her family's move to a small town in France, where her two young daughters undergo a major overhaul of their resolutely fussy North American eating habits. Narrator Cris Dukehart provides a gentle, motherly tone as she describes the differences between North American and French eating habits, and how these practices are systematically introduced to children and reinforced in both school and family life. Where appropriate, Dukehart includes passable French accents for native French speakers. Thought-provoking and easy to digest, this work concludes with 10 practical tips for introducing positive, French-inspired food habits to children. S.E.G. © AudioFile 2014, Portland, Maine
