From School Library Journal
PreSchool-Grade 3-An appealing blend of cozy cartoon illustrations and hearty language delicately spiced with a bit of Yiddish flavoring, this look at an intergenerational friendship is as satisfying as a bowl of chicken soup. When Rudie Dinkins discovers that his elderly sitter, Mrs. Gittel, has the flu, he decides that it's time for him to take care of her for a change and gets ready to cook her a batch of her own medicine. With his mother's help, the boy assembles the ingredients, also stirring in Mrs. Gittel's secret addition, nice stories about the "soon-to-be soup-eaters." As the pot simmers, he recounts three experiences that he shared with his beloved sitter, ordinary occurrences that demonstrate the affection the two friends have for one another. By the next day, Mrs. Gittel is well enough to care for Rudie, who wakes up with a tummy ache, and the two concoct a brew seasoned with the tale of "-how such a nice boychik saved the Chicken Soup Queen-." Incorporating lots of details, Hershenhorn's folksy telling is as comfortable as a grandmother's embrace. Rendered in gouache, watercolor, and colored pencil, Litzinger's illustrations are just as pleasing. Filled with rounded shapes and warm colors, the artwork adds to the affectionate tone of the text and illustrates the special relationship between the boy and his caregiver. An easy-to-follow recipe completes the package.
Joy Fleishhacker, formerly at School Library JournalCopyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.
*Starred Review* K-Gr. 3. In this coziest and most comforting picture book, young Rudie saves his baby-sitter, the Chicken Soup Queen. Mrs. Gittel baby-sits Rudie on Mondays after school. But on Sunday he learns Mrs. Gittel has the flu, so he goes down the hall to her apartment and hears 13 "a-choos" before he even knocks. When he's sick, Mrs. Gittel makes him chicken soup. So, with his mother's help, he does the same for Mrs. Gittel, stirring in a few secret ingredients (Rudie knows his sitter likes her soup a little sweet) and a handful of Mrs. Gittel stories--like the time on card-game day when Mrs. Gittel's fingers hurt, and he helped her shuffle her cards and yell, "Gin!" The tenderness between Mrs. Gittel and Rudie ("They should bottle you like medicine!") is obvious but unforced. Gouache, watercolor, and colored-pencil illustrations highlight the emotion in the warm colors, and special attention is paid to homey detail: Rudie's cowboy quilt, the plates on Mrs. Gittel's kitchen wall, his mom's teary face as she peels the onion for the soup pot. Love and care radiate from the pages; this will surely inspire a lot of children to get into the kitchen so they can put stories in their own soup. An excellent recipe for chicken soup follows the story.
GraceAnne DeCandidoCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved
