Soup: Poetic, Primordial, and More

STONE SOUP

There are many versions of “Stone Soup,” the traditional folktale about hungry strangers persuading stingy townspeople to feed them by making what looks like a wholly inedible pot of soup.

	In Marcia Brown’s Caldecott-winning Stone Soup (Aladdin, 1997), originally published in 1947, three soldiers trudging home from the war come to a little French village, where the peasants rush to hide their food – until the clever soldiers begin to prepare a batch of Stone Soup. Soon everyone comes forward to offer ingredients, and in no time there’s a wonderful feast and a town party. For ages 4-8.
	In Heather Forest’s Stone Soup (August House, 2005), two tattered travellers come to a mountain village where – denied food – they announce that they can make soup from a stone. But they’ll need a carrot – and perhaps, a potato. Soon there’s a delicious pot of bubbling soup – though Forest (over)drives the message home by emphasizing the “magic ingredient” of sharing. Included is a recipe for Stone Soup: you’ll need a large stone, a pot, a lot of friends, vegetables, and sharing. For ages 4-8. See a video version here.
	In Jon Muth’s Stone Soup (Scholastic, 2003), the story is set in China and the hungry travellers are Buddhist monks. For ages 4-8.
	Ying Chang Compestine’s The Real Story of Stone Soup (Dutton Juvenile Books, 2007) explains that stone soup was invented in China. The story is told in the first person by a fisherman, who complains of his helpers – the lazy and stupid Chang boys – who, as it turns out, are anything but. In fact, the clever trio manages to trick their employer as – claiming it’s all from stones – they produce a yummy pot of fish soup. The humor lies in the disparity between the text, told from the point of view of the lounging fisherman, and the pictures of the smart and busy boys. Included is a recipe for Egg Drop Stone Soup. For ages 5-9.
	Eric A. Kimmel’s Cactus Soup (Amazon Children’s Publishing, 2011) is a Mexican version of the Stone Soup tale. When hungry Zapatistas ride into the little town of San Miguel, the inhabitants hurry to hide their stores of food – but the undaunted Capitan offers to make soup from a single cactus spine. This would, of course, be far tastier with onions, chiles, beans, and chicken – and soon there’s a wonderful collaborative meal and a fiesta. For ages 5-9.
	In Eric Madden’s Nail Soup (Frances Lincoln Children’s Books, 2009), a poor Traveller begs a bed for the night at a curmudgeonly woman’s cottage – where he convinces her to feed him supper by starting a pot of soup made from a single rusty nail. The illustrations, by Paul Hess, are terrific. For ages 5-9.
	In David Davis’s Fandango Stew (Sterling, 2011), Slim and Luis, dead broke, ride into the aptly named town of Skinflint – and finagle the reluctant locals into making a batch of fandango stew, starting with just one single fandango bean. The moral: “Any bean makes a fine fandango stew. Just add generosity and kindness.” For ages 4-9.
	In Aubrey Davis’s Bone Button Borscht (Kids Can Press, 1996) – a Stone Soup story with an Eastern European setting – a poor beggar arrives at the town synagogue and offers to make a pot of soup with the bone buttons from his coat. The conclusion: good soup and friendly neighbors. For ages 5-9.
	In Patricia Reilly Giff’s Spectacular Stone Soup (Yearling, 1988), a short chapter book in the Polk Street School series, Stacy – who never helps anybody, ever – is co-opted into her teacher’s project to make a collaborative Spectacular Stone Soup. For ages 7-10.
	From YouTube, “The Wonderful Soup Stone” is a rendition of Shel Silverstein’s song about his momma’s kitchen, back in the “hard time days.”
	By Jane Yolen and Heidi E.Y. Stemple, Fairy Tale Feasts (Interlink Publishing Group, 2009) – a “literary cookbook” – is a collection of 20 familiar fairy tales, each paired with a recipe. Among these: a recipe for Stone Soup. For ages 5-11.

CHICKEN SOUP

	Maurice Sendak’s Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months (HarperCollins, 1991), originally published in 1962, is as catchy now as ever. (“In January/it’s so nice/while slipping/on the sliding ice/to sip hot chicken soup/with rice.”) What better way to learn the months of the year? For ages 4-8.
	See Scholastic’s Chicken Soup With Rice for a simple kid-friendly recipe.
	In Jean Van Leeuwen’s Chicken Soup (Abrams Books for Young Readers, 2009), Mrs. Farmer – ominously – has taken out the BIG POT and chickens are diving for cover right and left. All, that is, except hapless Little Chickie, who has a cold, and her sneezes give her away no matter where she hides. Panic reigns as Mrs. Farmer moves in and captures Little Chickie – until it turns out that the big pot is full of vegetable soup to treat Little Chickie’s cold. For ages 3-6.
	In Esther Hershenhorn’s Chicken Soup by Heart (Simon and Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2010), Rudie’s elderly babysitter, Mrs. Gittel, is sick with the flu, so Rudie decides to make her a batch of Mrs.-Gittel-style chicken soup – flavored with Mrs. Gittel’s special ingredient, stories. As he and his mother cook, he tells (charming) stories about his friendship with Mrs. Gittel. The soup does the trick, and soon after, when Rudie has a tummy ache, Mrs. Gittel returns the favor, flavoring the soup with a story about “how such a nice boychik saved the Chicken Soup Queen.” For ages 4-8.
	Chicken soup for colds? The most commonly cited study on the medical efficacy of chicken soup is that of Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska Medical Center, who tested his wife’s homemade soup on patients with colds. Chicken soup, he found, reduced cold symptoms, possibly by inhibiting the movement of white blood cells that defend against infection. Read about it at “The Science of Chicken Soup,” from the New York Times.
	By Jack Canfield and Mark Victor Hansen, Chicken Soup for the Soul (Health Communications, Inc., 1993), a collection of 101 short inspirational and uplifting stories, has spawned dozens of sequels, including Chicken Soup for the Teenage Soul, Chicken Soup for the Child’s Soul, and chicken soup for practically everybody’s soul.