Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious (Food Heroes #2)

Gr 2-4—This picture book biography takes on Alice Waters, founder of Chez Panisse in Berkeley and the Edible Schoolyard Project. Using an enthusiastic, conversational tone and a free verse form ("In her travels, Alice learned/wonderful food was like a symphony/that woke people up, made them happier"), Martin shows how Waters's fascination and love for fresh foods started young: at age three, the future chef won a costume contest, dressed up in a lettuce skirt, strawberry necklace, and crown made of asparagus. While in college, Waters studied cooking in France and brought home what she learned about selecting and preparing fresh foods. Before long, she opened Chez Panisse, a huge success. Finding fresh foods was not always easy, but as her reputation grew, growers began to come to her, and, eventually, her love and passion for fresh, locally grown food led her to organize the Edible Schoolyard Project, in which students plant and cultivate their own fruits and vegetables. Rendered with brush and black ink and enhanced digitally, the illustrations are colorful and simple. The book includes an afterword by Waters and an author's note elaborating on the subject's contributions to the local foods movement. A fine introduction to units on nutrition, healthy eating, and creative people making positive change.—Roxanne Burg, Orange County Public Library, CA

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

This adoring tribute to chef Alice Waters begins with a three-year-old Alice dressing in "a lettuce-leaf skirt, radish bracelets, a necklace of strawberries, a crown of asparagus," and winning a costume contest. Bringing the lessons she learns about food home from her world travels, Waters shares meals with friends before opening her restaurant, Chez Panisse, and pioneering the Edible Schoolyard Project. Martin describes how Waters seeks out ingredients with integrity: "The delicious meals she wanted to serve to her customers began not in the kitchen but in the field, with good soil and thoughtful farmers." Debut artist Choi fills the pages with cheerful scenes of smiling, multicultural children preparing and enjoying food; Waters herself contributes an afterword. Ages 5-up. Author's agent: Michelle Humphrey, Martha Kaplan Literary Agency. (Aug.)

Copyright 2014 Publishers Weekly, LLC Used with permission.

"CCBC Choices"Cooperative Children's Book Center
"Book of Distinction"Association of Children's Librarians of Northern California
A fine introduction to...nutrition, healthy eating, and creative people making positive change.
Starred Review, School Library Journal
An inspiring, tasty story.
Booklist
[A] lively biography chronicling the life of one contemporary foodie who has worked to make a difference in children's nutritional lives The art greatly enhances the text, with its varied multitude of cheerful people growing, preparing and enjoying food, as well as the use of different framing techniques and vantage points... An obvious choice in communities that have active Edible Schoolyards, it may spark some interest in communities that do notyet.
Kirkus Reviews
[An] adoring tribute Martin describes how Waters seeks out ingredients with integrity: 'The delicious meals she wanted to serve to her customers began not in the kitchen but in the field, with good soil and thoughtful farmers.' Debut artist Choi fills the pages with cheerful scenes of smiling, multicultural children preparing and enjoying food.
Publishers Weekly
"Alice Waters and the Trip to Delicious is an engaging and delightful read... But beyond simply telling a great story, the book reminds us that what we read to our children has a lasting effectshouldn t we use that opportunity to deliver a strong message?"
Civil Eats
"Spirited multimedia art captures an extraordinary life devoted to good food and good friends and, lest we forget, the trinity of California cuisine: organic, local and in season. Waters is a pioneer a female chef, award-winning restaurateur and crusader for farm-to-table eating, even in the cafeteria."
San Francisco Chronicle
"This beautiful story not only captures the evolution of Water's work at the Edible Schoolyard, but also communicates the very real focus of her message to young people: "You are important, you deserve to be well-nourished and fed." This book utilizes whimsy of words and illustration to makes the legacy of Alice Water's accessible to readers of any age. "
Kyle Cornforth, Director, Edible Schoolyard Berkeley
This book will inspire a generation of children to understand the importance of healthy food, healthy soil and healthy people and that they pass that education on to their own children.
Chef Ann Cooper, Director, Nutrition Services Boulder Valley School District; Founder, Food Family Farming Foundation
"This is a picture book biography that will inspire young readers to grow, eat, and discover their own trip to delicious... Martin explains in simple terms what the goals of Waters are, but she also manages to inspire and let the ideas soar upwards on the page... Choi s art has a great feel to it with a mix of bright colors and a strong organic feel that is entirely appropriate to Waters... A dynamic and delicious look at the life of Alice Waters, filled with all of the mouth-watering moments of her life."
Waking Brain Cells blog
"This is a book profiles an important figure in American women's history; the book is sure to be of interest to young foodies, and may inspire some to become involved with growing their own food as well or starting Edible Schoolyard programs in their community."
Kidlit Blog

AFTERWORD by Alice Waters:
Dear Reader and Eater,
I hope you have liked hearing my story! Here are some things I have learned about food and cooking from my time at Chez Panisse and the Edible Schoolyardand from my daughter Fanny:
1) Grow your own food. If you grow it and cook it yourself, you re going to want to eat iteven kale!
2) Taste and taste again. Who knows what you are going to like? Always have a taste of everythingand remember that ripeness is all! You never forget the taste of a perfectly ripe peach.
3) Always eat in season. I promise you that those supermarket tomatoes in the middle of winter are not going to taste good! You don t want to eat the same second-rate foods all year round that aren t deliciousyou want to wait for the juicy tomatoes and sweet corn in the heat of summer. They will be all the better for your wait.
4) If your plate is too full, it is hard to taste. If something is truly delicious, you don t need to eat so much to be satisfied. It s when things don t have flavor that you eat more and more and more, searching for flavor that isn t there.
5) Cook with your friends! You can talk about things when you re shelling fresh peas or washing lettuce, and will have so much fun making food together. When you come together at the table and share a meal, you never know what you are going to learn.
I can t wait to see you all in the garden and the kitchen!
With hopefulness,
Alice Waters
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