Hungry Monkey

This book set a record for the longest I have ever had to wait for an on-hold item at the Seattle Library. Was the 4.5 months wait worth it?

Hungry Monkey: A Food-Loving Father’s Quest to Raise an Adventurous Eater by Matthew Amster-Burton is about a dad that is able to work from home and cook for his daughter Iris. This book covers their adventures in cooking and shopping for food, from her birth to about 4 years old. I liked this book a lot. It takes place in Seattle and the writing had me laughing out loud several times.

Throughout the book, there are recipes that are appended to the stories. I will try a few, but most are a little too carbohydrate centric for me. Then again, I am a special case. Most children would be far better off eating the recipes in this book. The author embraces lard, whole-fat dairy, farmers’ markets, and spicy Asian cooking. Excellent. In the Stew section, the author defends fat with this funny and true line.

Still, admit that you cook with lard and people will react like you keep a loaded gun in your kid’s room.

Having been a long time critic of what parents feed their kids, but having no experience feeding a child, this book was good for me. It taught me there is a path that exposes kids to a wide variety of food, but that there is also compromise. This is an excellent book for parents, people who like humorous writing, cooking fans, and the people of Seattle.