Review by Booklist Review
Julia and her best friend, Simca, adore cooking so much that nothing will stop them from having a joyous time in the kitchen. They cultivate happiness from food wherever they go, and when they notice that the adults around them are full of worries and grumpiness, they decide to use their culinary talents to solve the problem. They prepare a feast cooked extra slowly to bring out the flavor of not hurrying, and the grown-ups greedily gobble it up. So greedily, in fact, that Julia and Simca decide to pen a cookbook, Mastering the Art of Childhood, to help adults reclaim the joy of youth. Morstad's illustrations consist mostly of stylized figures in delicate black outlines on crisp white pages, but Julia and Simca, as well as all their delectables, are full of rich color. While this picture book is not about Julia Child per se, it's impossible not to see the iconic chef in Morstad's depiction of a lanky girl in a neck scarf and curly brown coif, encouraging everyone to love food.--Hunter, Sarah Copyright 2014 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 2-This is the story of a girl named Julia who falls in love with French food at a young age (any resemblance to the real Julia Child is purely coincidental). She and her friend Simca take some classes and do a lot of experimentation and decide to pursue a future of cooking together. Because life "was filled with far too many grown-ups who did not know how to have a marvelous time," they are determined to follow their passion and to maintain their childlike joie de vivre. To do so, they create recipes for "growing young," which require no hurrying, and delicate spices "so that worries would disappear and wonders would rise to the surface." Despite some setbacks and needed modifications for clueless adults, Julia and Simca perfect a cookbook called Mastering the Art of Childhood. Morstad's lovely gouache and ink artwork has just the right proportions of sophistication and whimsy to suit the subject matter and to offer epicurious picture-book consumers something to sink their teeth in to. Bon Appétit!.-Luann Toth, School Library Journal (c) Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
Maclear tells a fictional story about real-life friends and collaborators Julia Child and Simone Beck (a.k.a. Simca) as child chefs. Becoming silly, stubborn, and argumentative, grownups regress when they experience the duo's marvelous culinary delights. Stylish ink, gouache, and Photoshop illustrations capture the whimsy in a tale without much child appeal that plays loosely with Julia Child's iconic persona. (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
A mere hint of Julia Child's collaboration with Simone "Simca" Beck informs this look at how following one's passion can require the fearless enthusiasm of childhood.Though in reality Julia and Simca met as adults, here Julia is very young when she has a taste of sole meunire and falls in love with French cooking. She and friend Simca are just two young girls who meet on weekends to "shop at the market and gather new ideas and recipes." They form a sisterly bond and imagine cooking together always. Morstad's lively art uses Photoshop, ink and gouache, telegraphing a suggestion of the ink-and-watercolor work of mid-20th-century artists like Sasek and Bemelmans. Maclear managesjustto avoid being directly didactic when, concerned about the sober and dreary adults around them, Julia and Simca prepare "recipes for growing young." Still, there's a rich dollop of sentimentality in the way that the two young cooks bring "all sorts of big, busy people" to a remembrance of childhood pleasures. The result is a lighthearted, if slightly obscure allegory about inspiration and its gifts.Intriguing for an adult familiar with the real Julia and perhaps for the perceptive child who will understand that it's not about how old you are, or about what you cook, but about what you bring to the table. (Picture book. 4-8) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
