What an absolutely delightful book in every way! My 5-year old friend giggled as I read it to her, as did a group of my 50-year old friends. To read it aloud is such fun. The line, "I'm Penelope, and I am a PRINCESS!" alone presents endless theatrical possibilities. I believe it will find a place on the shelf among classics such as "Where the Wild Things Are" and "Harold and the Purple Crayon."

How many times we have used the "pincess" expression with our little girls thinking we were the only ones with a Penelope! It is interesting that this books views the role through the eyes and ears of a "princess" which Mack has successfully described. Julia Gran's illustrations of a modern princess make the book extremely appealing for bedtime reading by the king and queen. I look forward to more works by Todd Mack and hopefullly teamed up with Julia Gran.
After I read the book I suddenly knew of many friends I just had to share the story with and this is a mark of a winner.

A fabulous book, wonderful and clever. A must have for every family with young children

I found this book to be very well researched, and thorough. I believe that his contains new information that is helpful to helping both victims and offenders. It is a shame that more people in positions that deal with victims or offenders have not read this book.

As a licensed clinical psychologist, I feel that this is a well written and very well researched book. It shows a lot of insight into a very newly researched field of psychology as well as a practical approach for helping professionals to aid and understand the victums.

I was really amazed at how many different types of recipes were in this book. It has everything from Southern dishes to Chinese dishes. It had many new ideas for the adventureous cook. If you love to cook or eat, this is the book for you. The instructions are simple and the ingredients are easy to find. The tips you learn in this book, are invaluable to creating the perfect meal. Regardless of the amount of time you have to prepare a meal, you can find what you need in this book. I own a lot of cook books, and 'An American Feast' is by far the most versatile and flavor rich. Don't miss out on this one.

This is laid out so well in a series of articles that Beard writes on his experiences with food, chefs, and restaurants. He not only talks about the purchase, prep and cooking, but also exquisite accounts of his memories of the recipe as he ate, sometimes with others.

Especially see his ideas about grilling hamburger. So luscious, with heavy cream, onions! So good!

This volume is chock full of treasures of tidbits from the easily recognized giant of the American culinary craft.

My first cookbook was Joy of Cooking, my second, Mastering the Art of French Cooking; both were solid, basic, accessible, world-expanding, indispensable guides for me when I was young and learning to do more in the kitchen than I had grown up with. An appreciation of food and a view toward a larger world started here for me. It is an excellent place still, this set, to start an education in classic French cuisine. Julia Child wrote the recipes with an inexperienced cook and American audience in mind, and 35-40 years ago, probably, so the dishes are imminently do-able. Get all the volumes.

My mom was insistent that we kids learn to cook, and when Julia Child came on public television in the 60's, the whole family was glued to the set. We watched with fascination as she did things with food we Americans didn't know you could do. Mom bought this cookbook then, and I still have it, cover hanging by threads and covered in all kinds of saucy stains. It's still going strong, getting more stains every time I give a dinner party.

We learned how to make omelets, roasts, soups like Vichysoisse (surprisingly simple potato and leek soup), and how to cook the bumper crop of garden green beans in a new and very delectable manner.

I still think that this may be one of the best cookbooks for vegetables that I have on my shelf. I prize it for the meat section, especially a veal ragout that is possibly one of the most luxurious company dishes for a dinner party. It can be made ahead, and in fact, improves if you do. There are a lot of delicious desserts, some complicated (like Creme Bavaroise) and some cakes such as Reine de Saba (Queen of Sheba), a darkly moist and modest looking little chocolate cake. This is easy to make, but so rich and delicious it should be banned by the AMA. What's not in here is French Bread. That's in Volume II.

We made French-style green beans and the Reine de Saba cake one memorable Thanksgiving when we were very young, and even the kids (seven cousins, five of which were BOYS) sat politely glued to the table for the ENTIRE meal instead of getting up and running around halfway through the feast. The food was THAT good.

While I don't make French food every day because I watch my weight, I do use this book for the princples of good food preparation, even if omitting cream or substituting lower fat choices.

I have been a subscriber to high-end food magazines for decades, and have an extensive collection of cookbooks. This is the best cook book in print, without exception. I remember when Julia came on the scene when I was a child. It was, no exaggeration.....innovative. She used words we couldn't pronounce, showed us how to make dishes we were unfamiliar with, and showed us techniques that were unheard of to the American public. Almost 40 years later, the American palette has become more sophisticated and the food options available to us seem endless. This book stills holds up as the best. It is the primer for understanding French cooking, and mastering invaluable techniques in the kitchen.

I love good food and enjoy cooking. The problem is, after twenty something years cooking I still have to admit that I have no natural talent or culinary instinct. EVERYTIME I use this book I am successful. Don't let the title of this book intimidate you. This book was written in large part with the novice in mind.

My 20 month old son has a very eclectic taste in the books he enjoys. I was surprised when he pulled this off of his book shelf amidst many other books. It is now the favorite book and we read it over and over and over again. The text is simple; the illustrations are realistic yet warm; and, we never grow tired of discussing the illustrations on each page. I think he enjoys it because of the above reasons, and because it is predictable, yet the "surprise" ending never becomes boring. This book is truly a "find."

A lovely story of a toddler girl hiding under a blanket and playing a game of "what is under the blanket"? Mother makes many guesses as to what it can be and each response is "I don't need (the item)". At the end the girl pops out and declares the lump was "me" and then mother states that is just what she needed. This is very cute and shows love and typical interaction between a loving mother and adoring daughter. I have the board book version and I am sure it will get much repeated use. The theme of love between parent and child is not seen often enough in children's books and I am glad to see it in this book. Often books focus on the child, the child's activities, or objects (cars, trains, toys, etc.) rather than focusing on the expression and communication of love between parent and child.

One morning a mother sees a strange bundle under the blankets on her bed. As she wonders aloud what it might be--a monkey? A bundle of carrots? Or Humpty-Dumpty?--the bundle proclaims "No, no, no, no, NO!" until finally it reveals itself: "It's ME!" cries the tousle-headed little toddler.

If you're a baby boomer, you might remember this book from your childhood. It was originally published in 1951 under the title "The Bundle Book." Here it is updated with a new title and brand new illustrations.

Purists, who flinch every time they see remakes of Disney classics like "The Absent-Minded Professor" and "The Parent Trap," will no doubt cringe when they hear that old books are being redone with new pictures. But, as nice as the original pale chalk and charcoal drawings were, they were not irreplaceable illustrations along the lines of Garth Williams' pencil sketches that accompany the "Little House" books. The story doesn't suffer at all, and the updated look just means a new generation of children will be exposed to a tender little story.

Noonan has illustrated the new book beautifully. The cover alone, a touching portrait of mother and child, makes this book stand out from others on the shelf. The rich pastel colors are as warm and inviting as the chenille bedspread under which the child hides.

I think this would make a nice gift for a new mother on Mother's Day and will be a book that toddlers want read over and over again.

This book is really refreshingly simple compared to all the incredibly complicated recipes one seems to find lately (most of which don't taste too good). When I first bought it I was a little disappointed as it contained a lot of talk and few recipes. However on trying the recipes I fell in love with Julia's detailed instructions, they make difficult things easy. It was my first time making chocolate mousse and cheese souffle and they both turned out perfect. I give it 4 stars rather than 5 because I would have liked more variety.

If you know nothing about cooking, this is the book to buy first, and the fact that it's so hard to find is a damn shame. Julia is who she is for a good reason. The recipes (and more) in here -- the original Caesar Salad (given to Julia by Cesar Cardini's daughter), the last words in puff pastry and chocolate mousse recipes, a discourse on the ethics of cooking lobster, advice on metric measurements (written in the '70s when there was hope for the US to convert, but relevant now in the era of Internet recipes), and even a comparison of French and American butchering practices make this more than just your average TV cookbook (it was the companion to the color French Chef series).

To any cookbook interested in Western cooking of any sort, this should be a part of your library. It doesn't cover everything, but if you can't learn to cook from this book you can't cook period. Julia has written many a cookbook (even Baking With Julia, though written by Dorie Greenspan, still has Julia's spirit in it apart from the TV connection), and most all are great, but this is the one Julia book every serious chef should own.

I bought this book for my sophomore year in college (years ago). It is wonderful, providing simultaneously lessons on basic cooking techniques and great recipes to enjoy.

Two recipes you will need to try or forever regret it: leek and potato soup, and chocolate mousse (freeze it!). You will be famous and popular if you serve these dishes to your friends.

I love cooking shows and often read cookbooks for pleasure, picking up tips from each author and pondering what recipes I'd like t try, but I have to admit that I've never been a part of the cooking cult that worships Julia Child. I do remember watching her shows as a child, with my mother, and know she pioneered the genre, but the meals she made rarely appealed to me--too time consuming, too "fussy" and just too "strange" for every day taste. (If I have to visit eight different shops and peruse three mail order catalogs to make a dish, I'm probably not going to try it.)

Recently, I picked up "Julia's Kitchen Wisdom" at the library and was quickly sold. I am now ordering a copy to keep. The book is filled with useful basic recipes and techniques, as well as lots of helpful time-saving tips that Child has picked up over the years. It's not really a recipe book per se, though tried-and-true formulas for things like Hollandaise sauce and pastry dough do appear, it's more of a kitchen guide. It's full of ingredient substitutions, serving suggestions and definitions of terms you may come across. More useful to experienced cooks, it's also a helpful guide for the best technique, according to Child, for things like braising, searing, roasting and folding. Child's years in the kitchen have made here at master and I was pleasantly surprised to find many time-saving techniques and places were Child says the "easy" way is actually better.

This slim volume really packs a wallop of cooking information and I think it would make a nice addition to any cook's bookshelf.

This brilliant little book distills all of Julia Child's years of experience into just over 100 pages. But instead of scratching the surface of cooking and its techniques, Ms. Child tells you everything you need to know. Whether you're an expert in the kitchen or a beginner with only three favorite recipes, this book will help you expand your repertoire. Its quick reference structure makes it a snap to check the best way to cook, say, a pork chop, or how to make your vegetables tastier than ever. And interspersed among the chapters are Julia's "Master Recipes" for those classic dishes that never go out of style. A real gem.

After 40 years of cooking with fellow chefs and friends, Julia Child has developed a refined method for cooking her master recipes. In this cute little cookbook, she has also included variations to many of the recipes to show us all how creative cooking can be, yet how essential it is to follow the basic cooking truths. Julia was born in Pasadena, California. She then moved to Paris with her husband Paul and studied at the Cordon Bleu. After writing her first cookbook "Mastering the Art of French Cooking," in 1961, she appeared on many public television cooking shows.

Judith Jones can be credited for discovering Julia Child, she is the best editor Julia Child could have ever found. She is very wise and once wrote me a nice letter to explain why my instructions in my own cookbook were too truncated. She loves the cookbooks she edits to have a personality and an easy flowing writing style. I took her advice very seriously and she has in fact improved my writing by her one small comment. It is with that said, that I can say that her influence on this book has only made Julia's writing even more wonderful.

I love the fact that Julia gives her editor so much credit in the Acknowledgments section. Without great editors, most cookbooks would never make it to the publishing stage. David Nussbaum was also very influential in the writing of this particular cookbook as he was with "Julia and Jacques Cooking at Home." He helped to gather information needed for this book from Julia's books and shows. He also spent time with Julia in Judith Jones's Vermont kitchen, working out the details of some recipes.

The book I am reviewing is only 127 pages, but there is also a 288 page large print edition which I applaud Julia for considering and publishing. In both books, Julia presents soups, sauces, salads, dressings, vegetables, meats, poultry, fish, eggs, breads, crepes, tarts, cakes and cookies. The index is delightfully easy to use and I love the headings, e.g., Almond(s) is in a different color than the list following it. In that way, you can find the basic categories of Apples, Crab, Soup, Cookies, etc.

When you read the text in this cookbook, you will almost feel that Julia Child is reading to you. I can hear her voice and that is what makes this book so wonderful. Each chapter begins with a fun note (or what you might call a headnote) from Julia. The first chapter is "Soups and Two Mother Sauces." There is a recipe for "Leek and Potato Soup." Julia explains the master recipe and then gives variations of "Onion and Potato Soup," "Cream of Leek and Potato," and "Watercress Soup." What you will learn from this book is "techniques." This allows you to create your own recipes. In cooking there are certain proven cooking methods and that is what I believe Julia is trying to show you. You learn to make a white sauce and a hollandaise sauce in the first chapter. The style of the master recipes is similar throughout the book. Each one has a nice heading of a different color, ingredients are listed in the order they will be used and the instructions are easy-to-read, yet do not have numbers. The Variations for the recipes are in a paragraph style, but also have nice headings in a different color. Each page has two columns of text.

In the second chapter, you will enjoy learning to make a "Basic Vinaigrette Dressing." The variations sound just delicious and there is also advice in a small block which explains how to keep your vinaigrette fresh for several days. Throughout the book you will find little blocks of text with a pink background. These must be some of Julia's secrets. This is a book you will want to read and absorb.

In the third chapter, Julia has charts for blanching and boiling vegetables. She says: "When you serve fine, fresh green vegetables, you want them to show off their color." She gives some sage advice on how to accomplish this. The chapter on "Meats, Poultry and Fish" is an introduction into sautéing, broiling, roasting, stewing, braising, poaching and steaming.

Then, onto French Omelets and dreamy soufflés. You will enjoy learning how to make molded dessert custards or as we know them to be, "Caramel Custards". She makes a "Classic Custard Sauce," a "Pastry Cream" and finishes the chapter on eggs with a "Classic Chocolate Mousse."

Julia Child knows that you could just use a ready-made pie shell, but thinks it is a shame if you can't make one yourself. With that, I can agree. So, in her Bread Chapter, she not only explains how to make basic bread dough, she shows us how to make an all-purpose pie dough. "Cakes and Cookies" follow this chapter. This will soon become one of your favorite chapters. Now, there is one thing you will want to know when making Julia's recipes. She uses a different method for measuring flour than I do. She sifts the flour into the cups and then sweeps off the excess. That will be key to your success where noted. I personally only use that method when making pie crusts, because I create my recipes by the dip and sweep method, which is the lazy way! You will notice that in her directions, she will say 1/2 cup cake flour (sifted and measured as per the box on page 97.) I was delighted to find a recipe for "Cat's Tongues." While I had heard of these finger-shaped sugar cookies, I had no idea what they tasted like.

I recommend this book to new cooks, especially because these are the master recipes I learned when I was learning to cook as a teenager in cooking class. For experienced cooks, you will enjoy the variations. This is a book of Kitchen Wisdom from American's favorite teacher of French home cooking.

I have little that is critical to say about this book: I bought it with certain purposes in mind (to find a few authentic recipes for certain classic French dishes such as Coq au Vin which I first tasted in Manhattan in New York at a young age) and to find a few new ones for French HOME cooking (and not whatever is 'nouvelle cuisine,at that, about which I have only read, in any case), and it has more than fulfilled them. The recipe for Coq au Vin de Bourgogne (which I have yet to prepare but have read carefully and will be making before long), for example, is not just presented in a cut and dried fashion, but the instructions for what Elizbeth David calls "A typical Burgundian recipe, from the Cloche d'Or in Dijon", are given and then discussed by the author as to ways of proceeding, given the difficulties that she has noted, in practice, in making it. (In the case of this recipe she does not just say in her list of ingredients that is made with red wine, but specifies a sound red Burgundy, Beaujolais, or Macon. Since I had never made it, and had viewed making it with some trepidation, I appreciated the fact that not only has she included an obviously excellent recipe for it, but she has, in the course of her presentation and discussion, persuaded me that, even though I know I can't make it adequately well, perhaps if I pay attention to what she writes in this cookbook, and I just follow the(this) recipe(s), more or less, what results may be food which will be (just, at least?) good enough. Of course I was interested in her recipe for Boeuf à la Bourguiginone (which is something which, as of this time, I have yet to make, but had more than planned on cooking at this time, in that I had prepared it to the point at which it could be stored to be completed later, which became necessary, since I got into a car accident recently, and am still recovering from some trauma, so this wonderful dish has to wait until I am truly fine), which is is worth reading and paying attention to, although of that, I have others which are not to be dismissed either. A further remark or two. This cookbook has so many interesting recipes that I haven't had the time to read all that many of them (nor have I owned it that long). One section, not to be overlooked entirely, is on the preparation of vegetables, and I was grateful to read there not only a recipe or two for the lowly leek without its necessarily being the leek in leek and potato soup, or the same in just leek soup, but, the leek as, yes, a vegetable, in good standing, WITHOUT her calling it "the asparagus of the poor"!! Finally, there is a recipe for Escargots farcis for which I cannot find the 'ingredients' for in my area . The 'ingredients" I am referring to are BOTH the shells and the snails which were sold separately in a local chain supermarket in my neighborhood, years ago, on the upper East side of Manhattan. Unfortunately that supermarket is no longer there. I am glad that the recipe for Escargots is included in David's French Provincial Cooking (the cooking of the various regions and provinces of France, not just Provence, is discussed in her wonderful introduction, followed the recipes from the same), since I hope to find them here at a later date. This cookbook, then, is quite a find for me, and it will continue to be in times to come. To some extent this review is premature because I have not actually made, or even read, all that I would like to of her recipes yet, but it seems to be that time anyway, which means that already this has proved to be a wonderfully helpful cookbook (if , for example, you know how to make mayonnaise but haven't done so for a while, and need help, and even calming, along the way, what she has to say in this cookbook is well worth reading and may even help you with all of that), which I highly recommend.

What I wanted was a book of unfussy French recipes to be done in 15 minutes. What I got was a book with no list of ingredients, no photos, no color, and "a useful dish for those who have to get a dinner ready when they get home from the office" taking 3 hours to cook (Daube de Boeuf Provencale). Obviously, it seemed, I had made the wrong choice.

On further reading, however, what unfolded was something beyond a "cookbook," and ultimately more useful. This is a superb book. French Provincial Cooking should be approached and read as a series of short stories, as well written and evocative as the best literature. The voice is highly personal and opinionated, sometimes sharp and catty, but always true and ultimately sympathetic. It is always entertaining.

And the recipes, it turns out, are less intimidating than at first glance. Most importantly, they work if your aim is to produce the most excellent food imaginable. There is nothing slick here, no L.A. hype or N.Y. blah blah blah, and obviously, they have been tried and perfected; what initially seem to be annoying details (e.g., for omelettes, eggs "should not really be beaten at all, but stirred," whereas for scrambled eggs, they should be "very well beaten") are actually secrets not to be skipped, that elevate a good dish to a superb one. The lesson is that good food should be done simply, but it takes care, attention to detail, and frequently, time.

I find these recipes don't stint on the butter, cream, and wine, making them seem a little frumpy, but every one I've tried has been delicious. Ratatouille, salade Nicoise, terrinee de porc, piperade are all the best I've had. It doesn't get much better than this. Deserts are a model of simplicity and elegance; peaches with sugar and white wine; bananas with sugar, kirsch, and cream; pineapple with kirsch. These ARE easy, and thankfully, E. David had the self-confidence to actually put them down in a book.

French Provincial Cooking is superb in all ways. It's the real thing!

The truly remarkable thing about Elizabeth David was not so much that she could write enthralling and compelling cookbooks ("Mediterranean Food", "French Provincial Cooking", "Italian Cooking"), but that she transformed a glum, drab post-war England by the beauty of her prose and her ability to evoke the sunshine and brilliant colours of the mediterranean. And, further north, the simple beauty of cuisine bourgeoise, home cooking french style.

It was this book that got me started on a lifetime of home cooking. Like all great cookbooks, it can be read and savored without cooking at all. Her ability to evoke time and place is startling -- for example, her recipe for little courgette souffles is wrapped in the story of how she first enjoyed them. Of course, this was in a small country restaurant where the proprietor used his own recipe to make them for her.

She talks vividly about La Mere Poulard and her Mont St. Michel omelettes, for which she offers the original recipe. Roughly translated from the french, it reads: "Monsieur, I get some good eggs, I put them in a bowl and beat vigorously. Then I put them into a pan with good butter and stir constantly. I will be very happy if this recipe gives you pleasure".

I remember, over 30 years ago, the first time I made her recipe for pork chops "to taste like wild boar". They do indeed, and very good they are. Her recipes for classics like Cassoulet, and Bouillabaisse are vivid and provide the cultural context as well as precise directions. Her description of a bouillabaisse on the beach makes you want to catch the next plane there.

She explains the environment of her recipes, their milieu, and their progenitors so that you get right inside the whole theory and practice of french cooking. This is not haute cuisine, though it is not always simple to execute. But her sympathy for the process of cooking and her ability to describe it precisely prefigured writers like Richard Olney and Alice Waters, who owe her, as do we all, a great debt.

In any case, she is directly responsible for the appalling culinary assaults I have perpetrated on family and friends for longer than I care to remember. I still use the book, though most of its pages are now stored directly in my memory.

This is one of my favorite cookbooks. The recipe for Pasta and Beans is something of a winter staple in my house. Just like Mr. Beard told me, I serve it with red wine and good bread. The macaroni and cheese is also great as well as the fish stew...

I had a number of questions regarding pasta. Every time I made pasta something different would happen. This book answered my questions and some I didn't even know I had! He teaches you how to make pasta by hand and by many different machines. He recommends trying all of the methods to find what works best for you. I have not tried many of the sauces yet, but I like the variety available. He believes that pasta is not just for Italian dishes and includes sauce recipes for many ethnicities. For novice pasta makers this is the book to have!

This is one of my cookbooks which never gets put away. I proposed over a serving of the Pesto, and now my kids demand the macaroni and cheese. Some of the dishes seem like crazy combinations, but have become pot luck favorites. The pastitisio and the basil lasagne were big hits. No clunkers here.