French Kids Eat Everything: How Our Family Moved to France, Cured Picky Eating, Banned Snacking, and Discovered 10 Simple Rules for Raising Happy,

Moving her young family to her husband's hometown in northern France, Karen Le Billon is prepared for some cultural adjustment but is surprised by the food education she and her family (at first unwillingly) receive. In contrast to her daughters, French children feed themselves neatly and happily—eating everything from beets to broccoli, salad to spinach, mussels to muesli. The family's food habits soon come under scrutiny, as Karen is lectured for slipping her fussing toddler a snack—"a recipe for obesity!"—and forbidden from packing her older daughter a lunch in lieu of the elaborate school meal.

The family soon begins to see the wisdom in the "food rules" that help the French foster healthy eating habits and good manners—from the rigid "no snacking" rule to commonsense food routines that we used to share but have somehow forgotten. Soon, the family cures picky eating and learns to love trying new foods. But the real challenge comes when they move back to North America—where their commitment to "eating French" is put to the test. The result is a family food revolution with surprising but happy results—which suggest we need to dramatically rethink the way we feed children, at home and at school.

"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 Pléneuf Val-André, 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 — '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 — parents 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 — including a Five-Minute Fish en Papillote and Clafoutis (sweet cherry soufflé) — makes this kid-friendly foodie manifesto all the more accessible. (Apr. 3)" Publishers Weekly Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

French Kids Eat Everything is a wonderfully wry account of how Karen Le Billon was able to alter her childrens deep-rooted, decidedly unhealthy North American eating habits while they were all living in France.

At once a memoir, a cookbook, a how-to handbook, and a delightful exploration of how the French manage to feed children without endless battles and struggles with pickiness, French Kids Eat Everything features recipes, practical tips, and ten easy-to-follow rules for raising happy and healthy young eaters—a sort of French Women Dont Get Fat meets
Food Rules.

Karen Bakker Le Billon is a professor at the University of British Columbia, and was named one of Canada's Top 40 Under 40 in 2011. A Rhodes Scholar with a Ph.D. from Oxford, she has published three scholarly books. For the past decade, she and her family have divided their time between Canada and France.