cover image 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

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

Karen Le Billon. Morrow, $24.99 (306p) ISBN 978-0-06-210329-1

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 Pl%C3%A9neuf Val-Andr%C3%A9, 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%E2%80%94"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%E2%80%94parents 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%E2%80%94including a Five-Minute Fish en Papillote and Clafoutis (sweet cherry souffl%C3%A9)%E2%80%94makes this kid-friendly foodie manifesto all the more accessible. (Apr. 3)