Jessie Hartland

Used to living in a large house in the city, together with her parents and numerous pets, a young girl must adjust when her mother and father decide to downsize, moving them to a tiny house in the middle of the woods. Having placed all of her animal companions in good homes, the girl misses having a pet, and pleads with her parents to be allowed to have just one. At first they refuse, until she suggests the microscopic tardigrade...

The second picture-book I have read from author/illustrator show more Jessica Hartland, following upon her biographical Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child, My Tiny Pet features a fascinating creature - the tiny tardigrade, also known as a "water bear" - that I have not seen before in the pages of children's literature. The story here is engaging, and although I'm not sure I understand why the girl can't at first have at least one pet, despite the smaller living quarters, I'm sure many children will identify with her desire for an animal companion. The artwork here reminds me in style of Maira Kalman - colorful, almost collage-like, with lots to look at on the page - and although I do not find it appealing personally, it is quite interesting. This is one I would recommend to all young animal lovers, to any child who is moving house, and to those interested in microscopic life. show less

In this comic-book style biography, Jessie Hartland sets out the story of chef, cookbook author and TV personality Julia Child, whose role in introducing French cuisine to an American audience is still celebrated. Opening with Julia's childhood in sunny California, where she towered over her peers, the book follows her through her college years at Smith, her work in the OSS (The Office of Strategic Services) during WWII, her marriage to fellow OSS staffer Paul Child, and their post-war life show more in Paris. It was here that Julia Child found her true calling as a chef, attending classes at the famous culinary school, Le Cordon Bleu, and eventually going on to co-author the classic Mastering the Art of French Cooking. The book closes with Julia's life in the United States, after the premier of her popular television show, and includes an extensive bibliography with lots of ideas for further reading at the rear.

Inspired to pick this one up after reading Susanna Reich's Minette's Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat, which I enjoyed, but which left me wanting more details about Julia Child's life, I found Bon Appetit! The Delicious Life of Julia Child both informative and engaging. It certainly contained more of the "whole story" than Reich's book, which focused on Child's Paris years, and her relationship with her cat, Minette. The two books would work well paired together, I think, with the one offering a more standard biography, and the other a more detailed depiction of one aspect of its subject's life. I did sometimes find the formatting here a little cluttered and confusing - there is a lot of text on the page, and French words are often followed by an asterisk, and translated below - but children who enjoy poring over a book with lots of visual detail might like it for that very reason. Recommended to young readers who enjoy biography, or who are interested in cooking and/or Julia Child. show less

Julia Child is a wonder to us in America. She somehow managed to break every cultural norm for women of her time (she worked and lived independently for many years before marrying, she married yet never had children, and she created a fabulous career for herself as a chef and a tv personality) and still was able to captivate her audience of (mostly) middle-class American stay-at-home wives and mothers. She was odd for a tv personality (very, very tall and gawky and somewhat plain) but she show more also had that wonderful quality of self-consciouslessness that endeared her to her readers and her viewers of the time and endears her to her readers and her viewers even today.

This little children's picture book captures that charming essence of Julia Child. The book is a comic book, told in clever text (with fun asides to the reader) and child-like illustrations. In this little book the author/illustrator somehow shares all the disappointments and surprising successes of this woman's life in a way that is captivating to both children and adult readers.

This was the first Cybils nominee I read and it immediately wooed me and won me. show less

Another relabling read. Loved the concept of this one and the detailed, vocab-rich text helped me get sucked in.