Julia Child

{You know the drill.  Like most of my posts that discuss books, this one contains affiliate links.}

You know how I love to read my kids picture books about real people.  (If not, go here, here, and here to see some other excellent choices.) They're not really biographies.  Actually they're not biographies at all, but more like fanciful stories based on people that lived real lives.

I picked up three books this month about Julia Child, the famous chef.

Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Catby Susanna Reich was the first book we read.  Minette was Paul and Julia Child's cat  who sampled all of the food Julia made in her French apartment.  Of course, like most cat's, she had opinions about the food.

Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Childby Jessie Hartland was crammed full of delicious detail.  Of the three books, it was closest to biography format and took fewest creative liberties with the facts. The creativity came in the layout of the book instead.  You would have to take a peek inside the book yourself to fully understand, but there were so many sketches, timelines, recipes,and tidbits tucked in the pages that it took us three days to get through it all.  Though it's a picture book, it would probably appeal more to older children because of the depth of content in this excellently compiled book. 

Julia, Childby Kyo Maclear was my least favorite.  In the book, a young Julia likes to cook French food and she has a close friend named Simca,  but that's where the facts end.  The story is entirely made up and involves teaching grown-ups to stay young so they can have a good time.  It was all a little silly for my taste. (Pun intended.)

Have you ever read anything about or by Julia Child?
I read Julie and Julia: My Year of Cooking Dangerously years ago after watching the movie.  I loved the movie, but the book was far more crass and I was unimpressed.