Full Moon Soup [Hardcover]

Alastair Graham (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 7, 1991 | Age Level: 9 and up

At the Hotel Splendide, strange things start happening. There are tales in every room, and readers will love following all the characters from spread to spread to see what horrible and ridiculous mishaps befall them. 30 full-color illustrations.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The seeds of disaster are sown in the first cross section of the Hotel Splendide in Alastair Graham's stunning, oversized, wordless picture book Full Moon Soup, though you wouldn't know it at first glance. From attic to basement, all seems tranquil. Under a full moon, a young couple stands arm in arm on a balcony, gazing skyward at the bright orb. A maid upstairs is dusting a lamp, as an overtaxed bellhop lugs luggage. An elderly gentleman hurries into the dining room with a newspaper. Downstairs in the basement, the cook is just about to take the fateful sip of glowing green, presumably full-moon soup. Turn the next page, and ... oh, my. All is no longer splendid at the Hotel Splendide, it seems. The moonstruck couple is visibly shaken as a pot wrenches itself from the balcony and spirals downward. Ghoulish goblins have appeared in the attic! The bedspread has attacked the maid! Is that Quasimodo under the stairwell? We hesitate to turn the page. The hotel paintings are alive! The maid is flailing under the bed! The cook is turning into a werewolf! Hotel life--and the hotel with it--continues to derail as a space ship crashes into the roof, Dracula comes out to dance, sausage links grow legs and crawl out of the freezer, mummies emerge, and the nearby canal floods the hotel basement. Young readers will eagerly devour the deliciously deranged details, tracking the characters from spread to spread to see what ridiculous events are unfolding. Your kids will find something new, odd, or hilarious in Full Moon Soup every time they look at it, which will no doubt be often! (Ages 5 to 105) --Karin Snelson

From Publishers Weekly

The baroque goings-on at the Hotel Splendide demonstrate what might happen if the lunatic Monty Python crew were let loose in the Twilight Zone. This wordless book's large format and exceptionally detailed illustrations reveal an exposed section of the grand hostelry, allowing the reader to function as combination sleuth and voyeur. The imaginative tour de force begins when the chief cook samples a suspicious-looking pot of soup in his basement kitchen, and the entire cast of quirky characters is affected. Separate scenarios are enacted in the various rooms; the mayhem escalates to a fever pitch as all within are besieged by a motley assortment of ghosts, space aliens, wild animals and--ever to the rescue--the local constabulary. The literally smashing finale is truly over the top: the real culprit may or may not be exposed in the endpapers. The bill of fare at this loopy lodging offers several chuckles, a shiver or two and a challenge to tantalize even fans of the hard-to-find Waldo--though repeated viewings will be necessary for total digestion. Ages 6-up.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 32 pages
• Publisher: Dial; 1 edition (October 7, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0803710453
• ISBN-13: 978-0803710450
• Product Dimensions: 12.5 x 9.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,581,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars endless fun, April 17, 2004

By 

"anikita" (Northern California) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Moon Soup: A Wordless Book That's Brimful of Stories (Paperback)

As a second grade teacher, I see a few books read to tatters year after year. This book is among the absolute favorites in my classroom. Although it has no words, it has thousands of stories unfolding over the pages, getting more silly in each scene. I find this book wonderful for reluctant readers, as they feel successful and start seeing books as cool and fun. I'm going to need more copies to keep up with demand. An original and entertaining book.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars CAPTIVATING, July 15, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Full Moon Soup (Hardcover)

I found this book in the Children's section and bought it for myself. This is the most incredible book I have found and I have 'read' it over and over. The story depics odd goings on at a large mansion. The children who visit my house have been captured by the colorful detailed pictures and neighbor children occasionally stop by and ask to see the book. The oversized book has pictures spanning two pages each with so much detail that I find something new every time I open it. Each picture has dozens of stories unfolding and you find yourself flipping forwards and backwards to see what will happen and to find what happened earlier to cause what you see on the page you are reading. I have found no other picture book in this. It makes children think and ask 'what made that happen' as they read it.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My 6-year-old loves this book, December 17, 2006

By 

Fiction Reader "Kris" (St Louis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Full Moon Soup: A Wordless Book That's Brimful of Stories (Paperback)

I gave this book to my 6-year-old on the second leg of a loooong plane trip. It kept her absorbed for almost an hour. She isn't reading yet, so it was a relief to give her something she could look at independently (especially as she was seated across the aisle). Since that trip, the book gets moved from the car to the church bag, and it continues to hold her interest several months later.

Have to admit I haven't really looked at it myself, but after seeing some of the other reviews I'll have to give it a try!