One Bite Won't Kill You: More than 200 Recipes to Tempt Even the Pickiest Kids on Earth [Paperback]

Ann Hodgman (Author), Roz Chast (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1999

The toughest challenge many cooks face each day is feeding their own children. By her own admission, the writer and humorist Ann Hodgman's kids are the worst eaters in the world, and if she finds something one likes, the other inevitably hates it. Now, for all similarly beleaguered parents, Hodgman brings together more than two hundred recipes that everyone in the family can agree on, like Nonthreatening Cheese Fondue, Taco Bake, and Roast Pork Loin with Apple Crust, many of them gathered from fellow parents. ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU also includes: menus for holiday meals, recipes for birthday parties, suggestions for in-flight and car-trip snacks, sections on feeding toddlers, preschoolers, elementary school kids, and adolescents. With hundreds of tips and anecdotes from other parents, ONE BITE WON'T KILL YOU makes the task of feeding kids not only a little easier, but also a whole lot more fun.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Tired of arguing over every last nibble? Comfortable with loading your cupboards with cream of mushroom soup and boxed muffin mix? This hilarious book could be the answer you've been looking for. Filled with tasty comfort food that's sure to delight folks of all ages, One Bite Won't Kill You reminds parents of the sure-fire tool for dealing with those advanced picky eaters: a sense of humor. Author Ann Hodgman, a former food editor from Spy magazine, is also the mother of two finicky eaters. Most of the recipes are fairly simple, and often rely on canned sauces and soups for key ingredients. Each recipe begins with a short tale of how the recipe came about, and the pages are filled with hilarious moments in the lives of picky eaters of all ages. The recipes have names like Taco Thing and Mud Puddle Cake and many are easy enough for older kids to tackle themselves. While this friendly, funny book is smart enough to make no promises about ending fussy eating permanently, it does a great job providing kid-tested edibles and adult-endorsed reminders that meals don't need to become battlegrounds. --Jill Lightner

Review

"I like Hodgman's amiably resilient approach to feeding the young, and her prose is equally engaging. She really faces facts -- facts like Vegetables vs. Kids, Parents vs. Fast Food vs. Kids -- and she does it with good kid-oriented dishes that still have some grown-up flair. (Roz Chast's hilarious pictures are precisely right too.) Myself, I'd like to eat my way through the book, and I think any kids who don't go for at least three-quarters of Ann Hodgman's dishes should be sold as slaves." -- Peg Bracken, author of THE COMPLETE I HATE TO COOK BOOK

"I've always believed that useful information has no place in comedy, but Ann Hodgman has written a very funny book that would have made my childhood much nicer." -- Conan O'Brien

Tired of arguing over every last nibble? Comfortable with loading your cupboards with cream of mushroom soup and boxed muffin mix? This hilarious book could be the answer you've been looking for. Filled with tasty comfort food that's sure to delight folks of all ages, One Bite Won't Kill You reminds parents of the sure-fire tool for dealing with those advanced picky eaters: a sense of humor. Author Ann Hodgman, a former food editor from Spy magazine, is also the mother of two finicky eaters. Most of the recipes are fairly simple, and often rely on canned sauces and soups for key ingredients. Each recipe begins with a short tale of how the recipe came about, and the pages are filled with hilarious moments in the lives of picky eaters of all ages. The recipes have names like Taco Thing and Mud Puddle Cake and many are easy enough for older kids to tackle themselves. While this friendly, funny book is smart enough to make no promises about ending fussy eating permanently, it does a great job providing kid-tested edibles and adult-endorsed reminders that meals don't need to become battlegrounds. --Jill Lightner

Amazon.com

"Ann Hodgman is that rarest of creatures: a humorist and a cookbook author whose recipes really work." Newsday

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 300 pages
• Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt; ISBN# 0395901464 edition (October 7, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0395901464
• ISBN-13: 978-0395901465
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 8 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (34 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #110,213 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Ann Hodgman is author of more than forty children's books, several humor books, and the BEAT THIS! and BEAT THAT! cookbooks. She has two children and twenty pets. Ann Hodgman lives in Washington, Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

51 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This book got me back into the kitchen, humming..., October 26, 1999

By 

L Goodman-Malamuth "Leslie Goodman-Malamuth" (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: One Bite Won't Kill You: More than 200 Recipes to Tempt Even the Pickiest Kids on Earth (Paperback)

I am responsible for feeding four males daily (one of whom is my husband), all of whom are such picky eaters that I come close to pounding my head with the cast-iron Le Creuset cookware I bought before I had children. However, these are mighty fine recipes, most of which will get eaten around these parts if I'm not hiding chopped broccoli in them. In addition, Ann reminds us in the nicest possible way that in this world, being a picky eater is sheer luxury, and then rolls up her sleeves and gets to it. As in her previous (and also highly recommended, by me) cookbooks, Beat This! and Beat That!, Ann admits freely that there is a time and a place in the kitchen for time-saving convenience foods, cleverly disguised. And if that argument goes over with me--when I lived in Berkeley, I used to grind my own flour, for God's sake--it should to you, too. The Roz Chast illustrations are a treat. The holidays are coming, so buy this book for anyone who can boil water. I'll be watching.

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars maine, December 14, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: One Bite Won't Kill You: More than 200 Recipes to Tempt Even the Pickiest Kids on Earth (Paperback)

This book is not just for kids! I have made several recipes and they were great! The cloud fruit dip was recent party hit--with adults! The caramel apple bread pudding ,eggnog and fudgies were all excellent. It is also very funny and the illustrations are a riot.

18 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Pure delight!, October 21, 1999

By 

Patricia A. Marx - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: One Bite Won't Kill You: More than 200 Recipes to Tempt Even the Pickiest Kids on Earth (Paperback)

I don't have kids but I read the fabulous reviews of this book and couldn't resist taking a look. I'm glad I did. Not only does it contain some fun and delicious recipes, it's hilarious. I guarantee you will love it.