Although this book is illustrated, it is in fact meant for adults. Perhaps the expletive in the title makes it obvious enough, but it thought I’d mention it, just in case. You may already be familiar with the similarly named Go the F**k to Sleep book, which as you probably guessed is also meant for adults, so this new installment in the series which addresses the dreaded ‘mealtime’ is a logical next step for the author.

You Have to F**king Eat has gotten an enormous amount of attention, as did it’s predecessor. You’ll find multiple TV interviews with Mansbach about the book, which as my publishing friends will know, is extremely rare for any kind of book that doesn’t have the words “Harry Potter” or the “Hunger Games” in the title. One of my favourite clips is below, which includes a portion of the book being narrated by Bryan Cranston of Breaking Bad fame.

What’s great about this book is the juxtaposition between the profane text and the idyllic illustrations. For example, there is an adorable picture of bunnies munching on carrots and happy looking baby lambs frolicking in a meadow, while above it, the following line appears:

“The bunnies are munching on carrots, the lambs nibble grasses and bleat. I know you’re too hungry to reason with but you have to fucking eat. “

So technically, you could read this to your child before they reach the age of understanding meaning behind words (whatever age that is, I clearly have no idea) just because the pictures are so cute, and you’ll get a real kick of reading this out loud.  But as my common sense prevails, this book is probably best left on your own nightstand, so you and your partner can chuckle at it together after a particularly difficult day of trying to force-feed your children vegetables.

I also like this little gem because it’s published by the small and mighty Akashic Books, based out of the United States. Yay independent publishing! If this review convinces you to purchase the book (fingers crossed), please do so on their website here.

And don’t worry, this isn’t the beginning of an influx of parenting book reviews on this blog, I promise to remain true to my adult-book focus regardless of the status of my personal life.

More importantly, this is the 100th post on ivreadthis.com, so the first person to comment on this post will receive a special gift from me. Thank you for following me and reading my reviews!!!