Book: Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat by Susanna Reich, illustrations by Amy Bates
Genre: Children’s book
Publisher: Abrams Books for Young Readers
Publication date: 2012

Source: Library

The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat

Summary: Minette, the tortoiseshell cat, adopted Julia and Paul Child in Paris, just about the time that Julia Child started cooking classes at Le Cordon Bleu. Will anything that Julia can cook be as tasty to Minette as the mice that live in the walls of the Paris apartment?

Thoughts: A friend suggested that I include Minette’s Feast in my readings about Julia Child this year to go with Julia Child Rules by Karen Karbo and Provence, 1970 by Luke Barr. What a fun idea! This is a charming story that will please adults as well as children.

The illustrations are evocative of Paris and the love of good cooking. You can see from the cover that Amy Bates captures the look of Julia Child. My favorite illustrations show Julia and Paul together — how lovely for children to see what a good marriage looks like!

Appeal: France lovers will delight in the illustrations of Paris streets and homes, the French phrases (all translated, with pronunciation guide, in the glossary), and the French dishes. Food lovers will enjoy the cooking scenes. Cat lovers will smile at Minette’s ways of being herself in both the text and pictures.

Challenges: Minette’s Feast is my 14th book for the Foodies Read Challenge — yay! That means I met my goal. This is the 19th book I’ve read on France in 2013, obliterating my original goal of 3 books for the Books on France Challenge.

I’m posting this to the Dreaming of France meme this morning (check out Paulita’s post this morning — she announces the availability of her new book I See London, I See France). If I remember, I’ll also post it to Weekend Cooking at Beth Fish Reads on Saturday.

Reviews: I see that there’s already been a review of Minette’s Feast at Beth Fish Reads, so this won’t be the first time this book shows up in Weekend Cooking.

If you’ll be reading books to improve your cooking or help you plan a trip to France, check out the New Year’s Resolution Reading Challenge — it’s all about reading books to support your goals and projects.