Its Disgusting And We Ate It: True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History [Hardcover]

James Solheim (Author), Eric Brace (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 1998

Did you know that Columbus's crew dined on rats? Or that roasted spiders contain three times as much protein as cooked beef? Marvel at some fascinating and truly gross facts in this exploration of food oddities that takes readers on a journey around the world, throughout history, and into their own refrigerators. True stories and amazing eating habits are celebrated in a feast of facts, poems, charts, tables, recipes, and a map. Illustrated in hilarious detail by Eric Brace, this book is one that readers are sure to devour!

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Cleverly catering to kids' taste for the slightly gross, this three-chapter smorgasbook gives readers plenty to chew on. Part One offers a world tour of weird foods like earthworm soup and flower salad, plus an abundance of trivia (e.g., spiders are higher in protein than grasshoppers, termites and beef). Part Two identifies "hairy, scary foods throughout history," including a meaty menu for a medieval feast. Readers will appreciate Solheim's tongue-in-cheek tone; for example, describing early European sailors' fare, he adds a sidebar headed "Great Rat Cooking Starts with Quality Rats." The final section peeks into the modern fridge to find "bee sugar" (honey), "cow squirt" (milk) and hot dogs ("Why are you biting into that tube of pulverized meat scraps?"). Throughout, the author blithely blends silly poems, useful facts and graphs; even the index is fun to read (see "python in vinegar" or "crayfish, jellied"). Brace (The Krazees) creates a manic, multi-legged feast for the eyes. He crams every page with curious comestibles and googly-eyed critters who talk in hand- lettered voice bubbles. With enough information for several sittings, this compendium lives up to its title's rich promise. Ages 5-10.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-6ASolheim appeals to the gross-out side of kids in this exploration of edible grub (larvae and otherwise) around the world, past and present, and it's more laughs than a barrel of monkey brains (the one delicacy he missed). Divided into three sections, the book begins with "People Eat the Wildest Things," a look at some of the less common foods eaten today, such as frog legs, earthworms, snakes, insects, flowers, and seaweed. "From Mammoth Meatballs to Squirrel Stew" considers strange fare from the past, such as a menu from a medieval royal feast in England (14 oxen and 50 swans, among other things), the rat stew eaten by sailors, and the robins popular in Colonial America. "If You Think That's Sick, Look in Your Fridge" takes a look at how many common edibles, such as milk, cheese, honey, and mushrooms, are grown or produced. Each double-page spread includes basic facts and lots of interesting trivia written in a wacky, off-the-wall style that children will love. There are also poems-amusing, tongue-in-cheek odes to unusual delicacies (a haiku celebrates sushi). Brace's cockeyed, whimsical illustrations, done with colored pencils and acrylic paints, are delightful. The pages are filled with colorful characters who make wry observations about the text. Fact-packed fun from beginning to end.AJoyce Adams Burner, Hillcrest Library, Prairie Village, KS
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 44 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Children's Publishing (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0689806752
• ISBN-13: 978-0689806759
• Product Dimensions: 10.2 x 7.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,531,615 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

James Solheim wasn't born writing, but he started soon after he learned the difference between a pencil and a cheese doodle. His early scribbles in mustard on the walls led to funny books like BORN YESTERDAY and IT'S DISGUSTING--AND WE ATE IT (and a time-out in the kitchen corner).

At age eight, Solheim began keeping his childhood writings in a special box. He says, "I lost the first book I ever made. Page after page of life-or-death drama, including desperate last-second weenie roasts and full-color illustrations of action-packed snowman building. Losing that book meant I had to keep my writings somewhere other than on the floor under a tangle of Batman briefs and discarded bubble gum."

No wonder Solheim grew up to write of a world where newborns are flamboyant authors, and dogs preside over international writing clubs (see his new book BORN YESTERDAY). At once a hilarious look at a baby's first view of the world and a sweet celebration of family, BORN YESTERDAY is a laugh-out-loud funny book about an infant born with an urge to write!

James Solheim gives inspiring talks at schools and conferences across America (and performs Norwegian folk dance in his jammies when he's supposed to be in bed). Visit http://jamessolheim.com to learn more! Contact him at [e-mail].

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars and you thought chocolate covered ants were bad!!, March 11, 2001

By 

Chess Heart "paxbear" (Canton, OH) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Its Disgusting And We Ate It: True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History (Hardcover)

Anyone for some soup made with birds' nests?? How about "1,000 year old eggs" aged in mud?? Live maggots?? I've got it, seaweed!! What?! You want to eat HAMBURGER?!? HOW REVOLTING!! :)

Food cuisine from around the world and the strange things people have found to be delicacies is the topic of this fun book. While most American children wouldn't eat cooked spiders for a million dollars, they may be interested to find that spiders, grubs and other insects are considered not only cruncy delights in other countries, but pound-per-pound they have more nutritional value than most snack foods we eat in the states!

"It's Disgusting" is a well researched, well illustrated book that I would file in the `expand your horizions' section. We easily forget that not everyone is like us or likes the same things we do. Hindis would be revolted, shocked and offended if we ate hamburger in front of them. Asian cultures find soup made from birds' nests a delicy (the nest itself is largely made of the birds spit) as well as sun dried jellyfish. Closer to home, at one point in history in the US turkey was once considered a food that would make you stupid and tomatoes were once considered poisionous. The passenger pigeons of yesteryear who used to blacken the sky by the millions were made extinct in part because of people's desire to eat them.

Meanwhile, today many food thickeners are made from seaweed or the hooves of animals (carageenan and gelatin, respectively), and some colorings are made from the carapaces (exoskeletons) of insects. However, no one seems to be worrying about horse hooves and bug juice in their yoghurt these days...

The book is written well so that even intermediate readers will be able to make their way through and become enligtened about the foods other cultures fancy. The authors strive to keep any bias out of their writing and simply state the facts: while WE may find this food gross, other people find it a delicacy and vice-versa--there's stuff WE regularly eat that other cultures would quickly push aside. Peppered with fun poems and bright illustrations (including some fun bar charts of the nutritional value of various foods, like bugs), this book may get a chorus of "ewwww!!"'s, but it will also expand the horizons of it's readers!

Now, pass the chocolate covered ants...

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Amazing what human beings will eat, even if not on a TV show, February 28, 2004

By 

Lawrance M. Bernabo (The Zenith City, Duluth, Minnesota) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (COMMUNITY FORUM 04)    (TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: It's Disgusting and We Ate It! True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History (Paperback)

If you thought that after watching the tribe members on "Survivor" trying to eat local insects and assorted delicacies the past few years there was nothing left to turn your stomach at the dinning table, then this book will quickly set you straight. "It's Disgusting and We Ate It!: True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History" has author James Solheim and artist Eric Brace giving young readers a taste of what can be done with seaweed, squirrels, spiders, earthworms, maggots, birds' nests, violets, and even mammoths (Hey, it could happen: remember the episode of "Northern Exposure"?).

The book is divided, like Gaul, into three parts. The first looks at the exotic tastes found around the world, the second looks at some of the more interesting dishes in history, and the third is an eye-opening look at some of the facts behind contemporary American favorites, such as the hot dog. There are a few recipes, mostly having to do with things you could actually cook today with some effort and parental guidance, along with poems, charts, tables, stories, and a map. The big question is whether or not the idea that something "tastes like chicken" (e.g., grilled guinea pig) is a universal goal. I mean, if it tastes like steak or lobster, would that be a bad thing?

"It's Disgusting and We Ate It!" is also educational (spiders having more protein than beef made my day though why the giant ones from New Guinea taste like peanut butter is beyond me), even if you decide never to try python in vinegar, horse blood, or cicadas fat with eggs (even if Aristotle did recommend it as an after school snack). But mostly it is just involves the fun of thinking that in another time or another place people actually ate these things, which will just make the information go down easier.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Totally Gross! And That's COOL!, April 6, 2003

By 

Thea M. Ryan (South Dakota, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: It's Disgusting and We Ate It! True Food Facts from Around the World and Throughout History (Paperback)

I've got to meet this author! He's got a wonderful sense of humor and is able to capture the "just gross enough" aspect of human nature. If you have a child who loves to pretend he's eating real worms in front of his little sister just to gross her out, you NEED this book. I love it, cover to cover.