Customer Reviews

Chicken Soup with Rice: A Book of Months

5 star:		(38)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(3)
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1 star:		(3)

 

 

These days, when a person says, "chicken soup" they're probably going to follow up those words with, "for the soul" or maybe "for the teenaged soul". Didn't used to be that way. Why I can remember a time when if a person said, "chicken soup" those words were followed by an enthusiastic "with rice!". Such was the power of Maurice Sendak's catchy 1962 children's book. I am pleased to report that if you care to read this book again today, you will find it hasn't dimished a jot in terms of frolicksome fun. In this book we are led through a whirlwind chicken soup year with our host, a boy who bears no little resemblance to Sendak's other great rhyming tale "Pierre" (in looks if not demeanor). It's a catchy flouncy bouncy combo of soup and the people who love it so.

This is ostensibly a book meant to teach your children the different months of the year. Each month gets its own rhythmic poem and accompanying illustration. These are fairly simple pen and ink drawings with the occasional splash of blue (in varying shades), yellow, gray, and green. You may wonder how an author could ever hope to come up with twelve highly original soup-related poems. I mean, honestly, how much is there to say about even the fanciest soup, let alone chicken soup with rice? Quite a lot, as it happens. In the cold winter months soup is supped while sliding on ice, while celebrating the birthday of a snowman, and in a gusty gale as a whale. In the spring there's robin's nest soup, soup to cure drooping roses, and soup stolen by jealous March winds. Our hero postulates the potential joys that could come of being a cooking pot, stewing soup or (oddly enough) as "a baubled bangled Christmas tree".

Not to degrade the reading skills of parents everywhere, but I cannot recommend enough getting an audio version of this tale to accompany your child's reading. Though I am now a wise and cultured 26 year-old (the years have been kind to me in this, my old age) I can still remember the chicken soup with rice tune. Heck, I read this entire book recently and found I could do the song perfectly with each and every line. Now maybe you have your own particular chicken soup with rice song style that you're just loathe to give up. If so, fine. I understand why you might not want to taint your already existing chicken soup melody. But if you haven't found a jingle to accompany this book, get the audio version immediately, if not sooner. Until you can sing "Whoopy once, whoopy twice, whoopy chicken soup with rice" with the correct oomph, you're missing out.

I take my "Chicken Soup With Rice" readings seriously. This book was the "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom" of its day, and still remains the catchiest method to teach kids the months of the year. It is also seriously in danger of being forgotten. So pull out your old accordion and strap on your dancing shoes. The time for yukkin' it up to a merry dance of poultry broth is here. It's Sendak at his finest.

I found this book to be once of the best childrens books I have ever read. The pictures portrayed the poems wonderfully. A great way to spend a rainy day with your child, or to teach kids months of the year. This book really lets your child use their imagination. You should try watching the video with them too so they can see the book come to life!

I remember being young, I don't know how old, but old enough to memorize every word. I had this Album, and wore out many a record needle listening to it. As I got to high school and attempted speech class, I knew there was one thing I knew backwards and forewards, chicken soup with rice, pick a ballad. And at auditions for plays or anything I needed to do, it was either johnny, the ballad of chicken soup, or Pierre. (I really didn't care which-inside joke to those who love pierre) anyway as I get older and see my friends have children and my relatives have children, I keep buying one book and tape over and over. This is one wonderful album which holds more treasures of memories than I can cram into any momorie book. and even to this day if you ask, I can still sing them all.

I've used "Chicken Soup with Rice" to teach the months of the year to my kindergartners for the past two years, and they LOVE it. Each month, I print that month's poem on chart paper, and we listen to the Carole King recording (they clamor for the "Really Rosie" soundtrack) before looking for words we know. By the end of the year even my lowest readers are recognizing words all over the place! Lots of fond first-grade memories of my own with this book as well. Can't recommend it highly enough.

Thise people who left poor feedback did not read the listing ahead of time. It states that the book is small right on the first page here on Amazon. This book is fantastic no matter what size. Kids love a book that fits in their hands nicely. Need to share it with a crowd then give them all a copy or write the months poem on a chart. Just had to speak up as this book deserves better feedback by far!

Each month in my kindergarten class we memorize the chicken soup poem for the month. The humorous rhymes, pictures, and predictable pattern make it easy to learn. Kids love it, and months later they can still recite all the poems from the preceding months! I bought the big book also, and cut apart the pages to make posters to display every month.

Researchers constantly find that reading to children is valuable in a variety of ways, not least of which are instilling a love of reading and improved reading skills. With better parent-child bonding from reading, your child will also be more emotionally secure and able to relate better to others. Intellectual performance will expand as well. Spending time together watching television fails as a substitute.

To help other parents apply this advice, as a parent of four I consulted an expert, our youngest child, and asked her to share with me her favorite books that were read to her as a young child. Chicken Soup with Rice was one of her picks.

Now I should provide some more background. My wife's Mother makes a lengendary chicken soup, which will cure whatever ails you, cheer you up when you're sad, and help you get your homework done faster. We have always received large containers of this wonderful soup for every possible use. It becomes not only something we eat a lot of, but something that we talk about frequently. There is also discussion about how hard the Matzoh balls should be.

Although this book is ostensibly about the months of the year, it also has a theme about what you do with chicken soup with rice in each month. So the poems were just a starting point for us in discussing what else to do with Grandma's chicken soup.

At the same time, I know that my daughter's love of this book also helped her learn the months (and what seasons they are in). Maurice Sendak's illustrations are wonderful and witty, and she enjoyed them very much. I think you and your child will, too.

There's a short 10 line poem for each month with chicken soup with rice in it. In January you eat it while slipping and sliding on the ice. In February, you eat it to celebrate your snowman's birthday. In March, the wind blows open the door so you have to eat the soup off the floor after it spills. In April, you go on a trip and think about chicken soup with rice. In May, you imagine being a robin making the soup in your nest. In June, you put some on your roses to fertilize them. In July, you find a turtle selling it at the bottom of the ocean. In August, you become a cooking pot for the soup. In September, you paddle down a chicken soupy Nile river. In October, you serve it to ghosts, witches, and goblins. In November, you become a whale who spouts hot chicken soup with rice. In December, chicken soup bowls become ornaments on a Christmas tree.

Our daughter would the come up with her own variations. And she would laugh and laugh at every mention of chicken soup with rice. The repetition helped her learn to read the poems. First, she memorized them, and later she learned to read them. This was clearly one of her favorite books for helping her learn to read.

Overcome your stalled thinking that chicken soup with rice isn't good for learning to read!

This is a short and sweet little book that can be read in just a few minutes, but every minute will be filled with fun! In cleverly silly rhymes Maurice Sendak takes us through the twelve months and thoroughly entertains us with his characteristic illustrations featuring the little dark-haired boy we've come to know in some of his other stories. The non-sensical inclusion of "chicken soup with rice" in all of the rhymes makes the months all the more memorable and easy for kids to recite, a great little device. The paperback edition is very affordable but I suspect you'll love this one so much that you'll want the hardcover in your library.

I noticed a couple of reviews commenting on the size of the book. Apparently they were surprised at the small size. This is the original size published from the Nutshell Library. It is a very popular book for small children who love little things. I am a school librarian and little books are loved in our library.

All of my children love this book. My first grader got it for Christmas and loves to read the rhymes. She is proud that she can do it herself. (Each month her teacher works on a month from the book with the class-not that she reads independently yet.) My girls especially enjoy reading the month they were born and singing "going once, going twice, going chicken soup with rice". This book is a classic that I remember from my childhood. I highly recommend it. I just wish the book was a larger size. It tends to get lost in the bookshelf among regular sized books.