Born Hungry: Julia Child Becomes “the French Chef”

Julia Child (1912–2004) and her lifelong love of food feature in this whirlwind picture book biography by Prud’homme, the chef’s grandnephew. The book opens with Child as a 6’2” adolescent whose activity makes her “crave food—lots of food.” In the first of several leaps, the story then skips ahead to her wartime work for a U.S. spy agency (including a project mixing up shark repellent), marriage, and subsequent move to Paris, where she begins her culinary training at age 37. The story concludes abruptly after Child starts a cooking school with friends, leaving an author’s note to detail later accomplishments back in the States, including her television career. Sprinkled with quotes from Child, Prud’homme’s prose is at its best describing food (“plump strawberries swimming in pools of whipped cream”) and Child’s determination, while Green’s loose art luxuriates in scenes of the figure surrounded by a colorful assortment of comestibles. Back matter includes further resources and a scrambled egg recipe. Ages 5–9. (Feb.)