The Biggest Soap [Hardcover]

Carole Lexa Schaefer (Author), Stacey Dressen-McQueen (Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 26, 2004 | Age Level: 3 and up

It's laundry day on a South Pacific island, and Kessy is proud that Mama has chosen him to go to Minda's Store to buy the biggest soap. But he'll have to hurry if he wants to get back in time for the storytelling that accompanies the washing, so off he goes -- as fast as a typhoon wind! Along the way there are plenty of surprises, but Kessy returns with just enough soap to finish the wash and in time to tell stories galore from his big adventure.

Exploding with bright colors and patterns, this playful picture book celebrates the warmth of a close-knit island community and the independent spirit of its youngest member.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

PreSchool-Grade 3–On laundry day, Kessy loves to play in the washing pool while listening to the women tell stories. When Mama discovers that she needs soap, she instructs him to go to the store and bring back the biggest piece he can find. The boy is proud that he has been chosen for this job, but knows he must hurry if he wants to hear the stories. Along the way, he encounters family members and friends who invite him to join in their activities. Determined to get back quickly, he presses on. When he finally reaches his destination, the shopkeeper wraps the large chunk in a cloth and ties it on a stick for him. On his return trip, Kessy soon discovers that Mama is not the only one in need of soap. He becomes a small hero as he unwraps the cloth and shares its contents along the way. Back at the pool, he explains why the bar is so small, relating his own experiences with a bit of embellishment, and becomes a storyteller himself. With a combination of colored pencil, oil pastel, and acrylic, Dressen-McQueen playfully captures the people, sights, and sounds of a small South Pacific island community with brilliant colors that leap off the pages. Loaded with similes and some onomatopoeia, the text emphasizes the importance of the oral tradition. This is a solid purchase, perfect for reading aloud.–Tracy Bell, Durham Public Schools, NC
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* PreS-Gr. 2. Schaefer's bouncy text and Dressen-McQueen's bright, Gauguin-inspired illustrations stage a vivacious, colorful tribute to Truk islanders of Micronesia. Mama sends Kessy to the store for the "biggest piece of laundry soap on Minda's shelf." He runs quickly because he doesn't want to miss the stories the women tell at the washing pool. He's diverted on the way by his two older brothers playing monsters in the muddy pool, his uncle Cho's work on a new bamboo window for his house, and his friend Amina's enticing new tin-can camera. On his return home with the soap, which Minda has put in a red cloth attached to a stick Kessy can carry on his shoulder, those same diversions slow him again: Amino cut her fingers on the can, so Kessy helps her clean the cut; Uncle Cho needs soap for his squeaky window; and his muddy brothers need a bath. Kessy returns home just in time for the stories, and he contributes plenty of his own as he explains why the soap is no bigger than a baby gecko. Both the text and the pencil, oil pastel, and acrylic artwork, alive with the sun-drenched colors and patterns of the South Pacific, bubble with happiness. Refreshing, engaging, and thoroughly delightful--just like a well-told story. Julie Cummins
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 3 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux; 1st edition (August 26, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0374306907
• ISBN-13: 978-0374306908
• Product Dimensions: 10.4 x 10.2 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,423,460 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Biggest Soap, but Perhaps the Worst Title., December 27, 2005

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Biggest Soap (Hardcover)

Like Preston Sturges' 1941 Sullivan's Travels, this book celebrates the art and magic of storytelling. Here, the auteur is not an escapist film director, but a young boy of the Turk Islands, sent by his mother to get the "biggest soap" for a very large load of laundry. Early on, we see two prime motivations for young "Kessy," his love of hearing stories at the communal washing pool, and, as the youngest of three brothers, his need to prove himself. The two motives drive the plot along:

"He was proud that Mama picked him to go to Minda's Store. But he didn't want to miss a single story at the washing pool. `To get back in time,' he told himself, `I'll have to be fast as a typhoon wind.'"

He sets off in a hurry towards Minda's small storefront, despite the invitations of his mud-covered brothers, his Uncle Cho, busy installing a new window, and young "Amina" with her intriguing telescope. However, Kessy's big-hearted personality slows down his return trip, and reduces the size of the soap as well. Each of the villagers that he met on the way to Minda's now has a problem that requires Kessy's time and soap! HE cleverly and generously solves their problems, but arrives late to story-telling time. When asked why he is late, and why the soap is not "the biggest soap," Kessy launches into his own story--and what a story it is. He takes the facts of his actual encounters and greatly embellishes them with myth and exaggeration, including a "Fish-Spirit Girl," a "ghost scared away only by a chunk of the biggest yellow soap cut with a silver knife," and two "Giant Mud Monsters (his brothers)." Kessy the story listener has become Kessy the Story Teller, and pond washes celebrate his newfound talent.

Stacey Dressen-McQueen's colored pencil, oil pastel, and acrylic illustrations are a marvel of authentic Oceanic Island motifs and brightly colored, energetic scenes of island dwellers and local flora and fauna. According to the back flyleaf, Ms. McQueen's colors were "inspired by Gauguin," and they enliven Carole Lexa Schaefer's already engaging, original story. I only wish that the publisher had printed this on even higher quality paper (although the paper is sturdy enough, and costs might have gone up), and that someone had chosen a more revealing title than "The Biggest Soap." That vague title explains why I've gone to some lengths describing a truly warm, clever, and beautifully illustrated story.

4.0 out of 5 stars Delightful tale to read and reread, July 25, 2009

By 

Aravinda Pillalamarri - See all my reviews
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This review is from: The Biggest Soap (Hardcover)

Brings the art of storytelling to life. My daughter and I have read this many times, and the characters and landscape have grown on us.