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Just Try One Bite
From the bestselling author of Go the **** to Sleep and healthy eating advocate Camila Alves McConaughey comes a whimsical role reversal in which picky eater parents are confronted by their three kids, with hilarious results
These three kids are determined to get their parents to put down the ice cream, cake, and chicken fried steak to just try one bite of healthy whole foods. But it's harder than it looks when these over-the-top gagging, picky parents refuse to give things like broccoli and kale a chance. Kids will love the jaunty rhyme that's begging to be read aloud and the opportunity to be way smarter--and healthier--than their parents.
These three kids are determined to get their parents to put down the ice cream, cake, and chicken fried steak to just try one bite of healthy whole foods. But it's harder than it looks when these over-the-top gagging, picky parents refuse to give things like broccoli and kale a chance. Kids will love the jaunty rhyme that's begging to be read aloud and the opportunity to be way smarter--and healthier--than their parents.
40 pages, Hardcover
First published March 22, 2022
4 people are currently reading
235 people want to read
About the author
Adam Mansbach
54 books386 followersAdam Mansbach is the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Go the Fuck to Sleep, as well as the novels Rage is Back, The End of the Jews (winner of the California Book Award), and Angry Black White Boy, and the memoir-in-verse I Had a Brother Once. With Dave Barry and Alan Zweibel, he co-authored For This We Left Egypt, a finalist for the Thurber Award for American Humor, and the bestselling A Field Guide to the Jewish People. Mansbach's debut screenplay, for the Netflix Original BARRY, was nominated for an Independent Spirit Award and an NAACP Image Award, and he is a two-time recipient of the Reed Award and the American Association of Political Consultants' Gold Pollie Award, for his 2012 Obama/Biden campaign video "Wake The Fuck Up" and his 2020 Biden/Harris campaign ad "Same Old," both starring Samuel L. Jackson. Mansbach's work has appeared in The New Yorker, New York Times Book Review, Esquire, The Believer, The Guardian, and on National Public Radio's All Things Considered, The Moth Storytelling Hour, and This American Life. His next novel, The Golem of Brooklyn, will be published by One World in September.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews
May 12, 2022
'Just Try One Bite' by co-authors Adam Mansbach and Camila Alves McConaughey is an exceptionally entertaining book about some of the trials and tribulations families experience when it comes to healthy eating. Along with the riotously vivid illustrations by Mike Boldt, this is one hilarious tale in which parents and children take on opposite roles in regards to eating healthy foods. The children explain in funny rhymes why the parents should eat whole foods, vegetables and fruits. Meanwhile, the parents are gagging and doing everything possible to avoid their offsprings' healthy offerings. It is a great way for adults and kids to get a birds-eye-view into some of the frustrations the other side may experience when it comes to healthy food choices. It is also wonderful to see that this story is told from the perspectives of a multi-racial family, and will appeal to a diverse range of audiences. Highly recommend 'Just Try One Bite' as a great book for adults and children alike to discuss healthy eating in a fun and stress-free manner.
April 5, 2022
I was looking forward to this as a mom of a picky eater. But it just didn't work for me. The rhyme scheme was off and felt forced and hard to read. The story was lacking the humor I was expecting and the overall package was just meh. The illustrations were cute, but the text was lacking and wasn't great at getting the point across at trying new foods. It also plays into the good food/bad foods narrative.
June 30, 2022
A poor rhyming scheme tells the story of 3 children who get after their parents for eating poorly. They applaud the virtues of whole foods and exclaim "...the food that really rocks, comes straight off a tree, not straight out of a box". I have never seen a more perfect example of privilege in a children's book. How many families/single parents out there are struggling to feed their children on an extremely limited budget and cannot afford fresh fruit/veggies?
Celebrities authors really need to just stop. Judge not lest ye be judged.
Celebrities authors really need to just stop. Judge not lest ye be judged.
October 24, 2023
This is a great book if you want your kid to develop an eating disorder. I was truly shocked at how epic some of the food shaming was in this extremely elitist piece of work.
October 27, 2023
This was a freebie from the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. Unfortunately, we read it once and it went straight in the trash. It was problematic in many ways and not what I wanted my 3 year old reading or trying to recite when he’s a pretty decent eater. It felt like it would create picky eating problems if you already have a “good” eater. And even rolls reversed of children and parents, the dialogue wasn’t anything I would have said to my child.
October 24, 2023
this book needs a warning label for teaching kids how to have an eating disorder. The intention might be to get kids to eat more nutrient-rich foods but it misses the point by food shaming and scaring kids out of eating a wide variety of foods.
July 1, 2022
Not sure how I feel about this one!! I’m not a huge fan of the good/bad foods narrative that is being represented. We get it, fast food isn’t good for you, but this story could borderline make a child feel guilty for eating it. I also am not a fan of the bribing message it gives. “If you eat this, then I’ll give you this….”
The rhyming pattern was also off for me. I had to repeat lines, which made it tedious to read. I also didn’t get much humor from the story—which is something I look for in children’s books.
The illustrations were beautiful though and I enjoyed the language and intelligent vocabulary used that could help kids learn more difficult words easier.
The rhyming pattern was also off for me. I had to repeat lines, which made it tedious to read. I also didn’t get much humor from the story—which is something I look for in children’s books.
The illustrations were beautiful though and I enjoyed the language and intelligent vocabulary used that could help kids learn more difficult words easier.
May 12, 2022
Not a fan. The message is making a deal to get the grownups to eat their veggies, and in the end when they do and they like them? They are rewarded with donut holes... Not a great message, is it? And the story itself isn't funny or fun to read.
Two stars because I liked the illustrations a lot.
Two stars because I liked the illustrations a lot.
October 16, 2022
Very cute and funny story about healthy eating but with a role reversal this time, it's the children who suggest and convince their parents to follow a healthy foods.
I highly recommend it 👌🏻✔️
I highly recommend it 👌🏻✔️
October 25, 2023
Let me start by saying the amount I disliked this book is no reflection on the author. I think his intentions were good and I absolutely LOVE his book Go the F@ck to Sleep.
In a similar vein to the author's other books, this book works as adult satire intending to poke fun at the ridiculous lengths adults will go to in order to control their kids' eating habits. However, it seems like it is marketed to children instead, and it is not a good book for them.
On the surface, this is a lighthearted story about kids turning the tables on their parents by trying to make them eat healthier food. It pokes fun at parental hypocrisy as the parents only want ice cream, fast food, etc. and retch with contorted faces at vegetables.
Unfortunately, I don't think the book succeeds at making its point, if it was actually written for kids. It ends up only serving to emphasize several disturbing, yet pervasive ideas about food in American culture:
a. Vegetables are disgusting and don't taste good.
b. People always hate vegetables.
c. We should use bargaining and pressure to force people to eat things they don't want to try.
d. We should eat all of our food whether we are full or not.
e. There are "good" foods and "bad" foods.
I hate to break the American culinary mind, but children hate what we teach them to hate. They will try things if we offer them over and over again. Some reviewers mentioned poverty and food deserts, so I don't mean that as an indictment of people in poverty--just as a criticism of our general cultural attitudes about vegetables.
If your child is American and has somehow escaped hating vegetables, sentences like these in the book, although taken out of context, can still put those ideas into their heads:
"And I know that you hate the way broccoli tastes."
"You can't say kale's gross if you won't even try it."
"I know you think cauliflower's weird and bizarre."
At the end of the story, the family eats all of their "healthy" food regardless of whether they were full or not, and rewards themselves with a few donut holes.
My 3-year-old daughter asked me, "Why?"
I told her, "Well, dessert tastes good and so sometimes we have a little bit of it."
She responded, "I don't want dessert."
I rest my case. Bye-bye, book.
In a similar vein to the author's other books, this book works as adult satire intending to poke fun at the ridiculous lengths adults will go to in order to control their kids' eating habits. However, it seems like it is marketed to children instead, and it is not a good book for them.
On the surface, this is a lighthearted story about kids turning the tables on their parents by trying to make them eat healthier food. It pokes fun at parental hypocrisy as the parents only want ice cream, fast food, etc. and retch with contorted faces at vegetables.
Unfortunately, I don't think the book succeeds at making its point, if it was actually written for kids. It ends up only serving to emphasize several disturbing, yet pervasive ideas about food in American culture:
a. Vegetables are disgusting and don't taste good.
b. People always hate vegetables.
c. We should use bargaining and pressure to force people to eat things they don't want to try.
d. We should eat all of our food whether we are full or not.
e. There are "good" foods and "bad" foods.
I hate to break the American culinary mind, but children hate what we teach them to hate. They will try things if we offer them over and over again. Some reviewers mentioned poverty and food deserts, so I don't mean that as an indictment of people in poverty--just as a criticism of our general cultural attitudes about vegetables.
If your child is American and has somehow escaped hating vegetables, sentences like these in the book, although taken out of context, can still put those ideas into their heads:
"And I know that you hate the way broccoli tastes."
"You can't say kale's gross if you won't even try it."
"I know you think cauliflower's weird and bizarre."
At the end of the story, the family eats all of their "healthy" food regardless of whether they were full or not, and rewards themselves with a few donut holes.
My 3-year-old daughter asked me, "Why?"
I told her, "Well, dessert tastes good and so sometimes we have a little bit of it."
She responded, "I don't want dessert."
I rest my case. Bye-bye, book.
March 27, 2022
This rhyming picture book is a role reversal where the parents are picky eaters who are confronted by their three kids. The kids want their parents to stop eating junk and try one bite of healthy foods. The book moves away from fast foods and moving toward whole foods.
I loved how the authors referred to fast foods as "slow foods." This book has many reminders of how bad sugar can be. We can relate to this book as parents because we all have struggled with "picky" eaters who have a hard time eating anything healthy.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/ada...
I loved how the authors referred to fast foods as "slow foods." This book has many reminders of how bad sugar can be. We can relate to this book as parents because we all have struggled with "picky" eaters who have a hard time eating anything healthy.
To listen to my interview with the author, go to my podcast at:
https://zibbyowens.com/transcript/ada...
July 12, 2022
stop teaching kids that there are "bad" foods. while I get the sentiment behind the story - referring to soda as industrial waste and basically bullying over having chips/ice cream creates a narrative that you can't be healthy when you eat those foods (which - gasp - isn't true).
March 23, 2022
Very bothered by the wording in this book… yikes. But Mike Boldt’s illustrations are awesome, per the usual!
January 15, 2023
I prefer to read books to the kids and get their feedback, especially if I feel like leaving a bad review. However, I will avoid reading this to the kids because the rhyming is so irritating and bad. There is no way to read a book like this with accuracy and my audience is constantly being asked to read with accuracy while being timed, so they love it when I mess up - and I refuse to let them see me do it. So I am not going to read this book to them. Besides, it gets disgusting on a level that some kids will find funny while many will just be grossed out like me. So someone else can read this book to the kids, but it won't be me. The illustrations are great.
November 14, 2023
1. Forcing to take a bite and bribery are proven NOT to be useful ways to promote healthy eating…even if done in a silly way.
2. My kids have taken to yelling “in your face!” to us.
So nope, nope, nope. Normally I’d put a book I don’t like in a Little Free Library. This one may likely end up in the trash because I don’t feel comfortable putting it in the hands of other families. Dolly Parton’s only dud for us so far.
2. My kids have taken to yelling “in your face!” to us.
So nope, nope, nope. Normally I’d put a book I don’t like in a Little Free Library. This one may likely end up in the trash because I don’t feel comfortable putting it in the hands of other families. Dolly Parton’s only dud for us so far.
December 17, 2023
Yeah, no…
It’s a fun idea about roll reversal and picky eaters, but the ideas around food, eating, consent, and what the food you eat says about you as a person… No.
Passing judgment on a person because they eat food out of a box is tacky, privileged, and makes unfounded assumptions.
Also, the rhyming was terrible.
It’s a fun idea about roll reversal and picky eaters, but the ideas around food, eating, consent, and what the food you eat says about you as a person… No.
Passing judgment on a person because they eat food out of a box is tacky, privileged, and makes unfounded assumptions.
Also, the rhyming was terrible.
June 6, 2022
Don't waste your time 😟
January 8, 2024
Switching the roles of parents and kids doesn’t make a didactic book more palatable
February 23, 2024
One of the Dolly Imagination Library books, seems like it’s written in part by Matthew McConaughey’s wife which is cool. I think this is a good book for picky eaters (even if I’m not really persuaded as a fellow picky eater). The illustrations are great and I enjoyed the rhyming. Overall, would recommend. Age range is probably best for 3-6 year olds.
March 13, 2024
The illustrations are super cute, and I appreciate a books with an interracial family. Overall, though, it’s a bit judgy in terms of “good foods” and “bad foods.”
**I would NOT recommend this book for anyone who is a sensory eater.
**I would NOT recommend this book for anyone who is a sensory eater.
July 20, 2025
A fun book where the kids become the parents in asking their parents to eat more healthily. This is a fun book full of cute rhymes as the kids convince their parents to “Just Try One Bite.” The illustrations are gorgeous and combined with the rhymes brings this story to life.
February 24, 2024
We got this book as part of our Imagination Library subscription from Dolly Parton, and this book is SO CUTE!!
April 11, 2024
First of all, if my parents didn’t eat but gave me their food-that would NOT be an issue in this house. These kids are NUTS!
October 1, 2024
Some good ol' reverse psychology!
April 14, 2022
Very cute. Rhyming scheme was only ok and wanted more humor.
April 12, 2022
In your face, Mom and Dad!
Fun story of children's trying to get their parents to eat vegetables.
Fun story of children's trying to get their parents to eat vegetables.
October 8, 2024
This COULD have been a great book. As an adult, the sarcasm and jokes are fine but for a "picky eater", especially with texture issues, this book is basically poking fun at them. The fact that bribes are used in the book is the worst part. You want the kids to eat healthy but are rewarding them with "junk" making that the sought after food.
April 4, 2022
This is great, it’s reversing the picky eater kids to picky eater parents. My kids and I read this together and it was a hoot. The rhyming words were fun to read and the pictures are bright and colorful.
March 27, 2022
The rolls are reversed. Children try to get the parents to try just one bite of healthy foods. A great way to show how children can be an influence to their parents too.
April 5, 2024
I just don't get this book. The kids are trying to get their parents to eat healthy? Is this trying to send a message to parents that our kids will follow our lead when it comes to eating healthy? The rhyming was weird, and I didn't think it was really that funny. 🤷🏻♀️
Displaying 1 - 30 of 97 reviews