Recently I had the opportunity to review Matthew Amster-Burton’s, Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater (Mariner Books, 2010) for Literary Mama. The book is a good read, often funny, and worthwhile even if you read just a few isolated chapters. What Amster-Burton does best is inspire without preaching. Michael Pollan he is not. Instead, he’s got boundless curiousity about what and how to feed young children, an ecumenical approach to what constitutes family food, and a kind of everything-in-moderation approach, which is in tune with the spirit of our blog. I can testify that this book was singlehandedly responsble fo upping our consumption of bacon by about 300%, including some with a memorable dinner of waffles. If you’re in a rut, or just starting out feeding your family, it’s a good place to start. The book proceeds from a interesting question:
What happens when a food writer becomes the primary caregiver for his infant daughter? More to the point, what does this parent — who has wide-ranging expertise in culinary traditions and sourcing ingredients, has the time (and inclination) to cook, and has a boundless, embracing appetite — have to teach the rest of us ordinary folk about feeding our families? Quite a lot, it turns out. Hungry Monkey is the result of Amster-Burton’s quest to feed his first child adventurously. It’s an engaging, often inspiring read for anyone, but especially for those parents looking to haul themselves out of a family food rut — which, I think, includes almost all of us at one time or another.
Click over to read the full review on Literary Mama…