“She bubbled over with effervescence, spoke as if she had marbles in her mouth, and gleefully hammed it up in front of the camera.” She was also a cookbook author and television pioneer who changed the way Americans thought about cooking and food. Jessie Hartland’s picture book account of the life of Julia Child is as dynamic as her subject. Every page spread is packed with information and brimming with humor. The busy page design looks daunting but reads easily as fascinating details of Child’s life unfold in a series of borderless panel illustrations and an accompanying narrative full of facts and funny asides. Among the many things revealed is that, during high school, Julia’s “French class is a disaster. (She will make up for this later.)” The hand-lettered text blends printing and cursive writing, and the gouache illustrations capture a definite joie de vivre. (Ages 6–10)

In a starred review, Publishers Weekly raves, "Chef and TV personality Julia Child likely would have delighted in and hooted over this wide-ranging picture-book biography.... Readers young and old will devour this fete pour les yeux."

Follow Julia Child—chef, author, and television personality—from her childhood in Pasadena, California, to her life as a spy in WWII, to the cooking classes she took in Paris, to the publication of Mastering the Art of French Cooking, to the funny moments of being a chef on TV. This is a comprehensive and enchanting picture book biography, told in many panels and jam-packed with lively, humorous, and child-friendly details. Young chefs and Julia Child fans will exclaim, "ooooh la la," about this book, which is as energetic and eccentric as the chef herself.