Food for mind and body

C.S. Lewis once said, “Eating and reading are two pleasures that combine admirably.” I couldn’t agree more.

Long ago, I lived in Cambridge (Massachusetts), a city in which both activities “combine admirably.” Not only is it a place where lots of writers and artists live, it has loads of bookstores and was once the home of Julia Child, renowned cook, cookbook author, and the first host of a television cooking show.

Julia Child’s centennial birthday will be celebrated this month. There are lots of fun facts (opens in a new window) about her, as well as TV programs and even an exhibit at the Smithsonian Museum of American History (opens in a new window).

And just right for family or classroom sharing — the book reads aloud beautifully — is a new picture book biography, Minette’s Feast: The Delicious Story of Julia Child and Her Cat (opens in a new window) (Abrams) by Susanna Reich.

The language is as rich as Julia’s cooking. It evokes the delight Julia and her husband, Paul, shared while living in Paris where “[t]hey munched on baguettes in bistros where birds warbled in cages.” And it was in Paris that Minette, a tricolored tortoiseshell cat, would become the first of the Childs’ pets.

Handsome, evocative illustrations by Amy Bates add generously to the book’s flavor, bringing the sights and sounds of Julia Child’s life in Paris and the start of her career to life.

Reich concludes this appealing volume with a bit more information about Julia Child’s life — including a photograph of Julia with Minette along with additional sources and a thoughtful author’s note (Ms. Reich once met Julia Child!).

This celebration of a centennial birthday is sure to delight and inform foodies — and non-foodies — of all ages.