Stone Soup The Comic Strip: The Third Collection of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup [Paperback]

Jan Eliot (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 1, 2001 | Series: Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup (Book 3)

The all-too-real humor of Stone Soup mirrors much of today'ss family life while cheering us on. It tells the story of a blended-by-necessity family of sisters, kids and the active breed family dog. It'ss a household of barely controlled chaos. Working-parent hassles, the terrible twos, middle-school angst, love and the single mom--it'ss all here in Stone Soup.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"A classic family story for our times." -- Phyllis Singer, New York Newsday

"I think it's a riot, my wife thinks it's a riot, even the guy who delivers our fuel oil thinks it's a riot." -- John McPherson, Cartoonist, Close To Home

"Stone Soup is a bright, funny, and timely strip that captures reality...in a meaningful, contemporary way." -- Peter Bhatia, The Oregonian

"She reflects our culture and contemporary family life in a way that is very wise, but very funny." --Roz Warren, Editor of the Best Contemporary Women's Humor, Women's Glib, and numerous other humor collections

From the Author

"There's nothing easy about relationships, family life, or single parenting. Laughter got me through the tough times, so if I can make just one stressed-out mom or dad, one frustrated working woman, or one angst-ridden middle schooler laugh, I've fulfilled my goal as a cartoonist." - Jan Eliot, May 2001

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Four Panel Press (May 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967410215
• ISBN-13: 978-0967410210
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 8.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,022,654 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

For Jan Eliot, cartooning started out as therapy and evolved into a career. She drew her first cartoons while juggling single parenthood and a full-time job. Working at night after the kids went to bed, she eventually launched the comic strip Stone Soup, which is loosely based on her family, friends and unsuspecting strangers at the mall. Stone Soup has been syndicated by Universal UClick for 16 years and appears daily in over 250 newspapers. There are currently nine book collections of her comic strip available, with two new books released in 2011--"We'll Be REally Careful" and "Brace Yourself".

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Who says comics can't be compelling?, May 24, 2003

By 

Robert Nowall (Cape Coral, Florida USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stone Soup The Comic Strip: The Third Collection of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup (Paperback)

I picked up Jan Eliot's first collection of "Stone Soup" by chance, and was impressed enough to order the next two. This, the third volume, collects strips that follow the adventures of the Stone family. There's Val, who raises two kids while struggling with workaday woes and finds sudden romance with a motorcycle cop. There's Holly and Alix, Val's daughters, who struggle as kids do against Val and against each other. There's sister Joan, who tries to raise two-year-old Max while running a copywriting service from home. There's Gramma, who lives with the lot of them and offers a constant critique of their lives and lifestyles. There's neighbor Wally, who, after a long and epic struggle, has at last made the romantic connection with Joan. A bunch of finely-drawn characters---in both the "literary" and "cartoon" sense.

It deals with any number of hot button nineties issues: the nature and place of women, life at work and home, the struggle to make ends meet, modern romance, child-rearing. Turn to nearly any page, and you're sure to find something profound and thought-provoking. Plots spin out over several pages, and one-strip gags are frequent. Certainly it held my interest.

My only regret: trying to catch up to the presently-running strips. I can only hope there will be further volumes.

Oh, and did I mention it's extremely funny? It's extremely funny...

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THE BEST BOOK I'VE READ IN AGES, June 8, 2001

By 

Rosalind A. Warren (Philadelphia) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stone Soup The Comic Strip: The Third Collection of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup (Paperback)

THis is the lastest collection of Jan Eliot's Stone Soup cartoon strip, featuring a group of characters who offer an alternative to the traditional "mom, dad, brother and sister" strip format.

At the heart of this non- traditional family are two sisters. One is widowed and raising two daughters, a teen and a pre=teen. The other is divorced (with a toddler son) but newly remarried, to a terrific guy who happens to have recently taken in his troubled teenaged nephew. There's also a feisty, out-spoken grandma in the picture.

In other words, it's a lot more like what the latest census informs us is a "typical American family" than the families you usually see in comic strips. You'll recognize yourself here, absolutely. And it's reliably funny, always. SOmetimes you'll snicker and sometimes you'll laugh out loud. You'll love this book.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stone Soup: A great comic strip by Jan Eliot, July 12, 2002

By 

D. Wong "dwong52" (San Diego, CA USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Stone Soup The Comic Strip: The Third Collection of the Syndicated Cartoon Stone Soup (Paperback)

Jan Eliot has put together quite a strip with Stone Soup. It's the story of a widow raising two young daughters. The comic strip depicts the day to day tribulations and challenges of being a struggling single parent who must balance her career and family without going crazy. Eliot's portrayal is funny because it's accurate--everybody will remember how hard it was to be a teenager. The family is not perfect--they quarrel and fight--but at the same time really do love each other, and Eliot is able to portray this with sincerity but avoids phony sentimentality. The name "Stone Soup" is taken from the old folk tale about making something out of nothing, which is appropriate for the strip. I believe Stone Soup will become one of the most popular family strips in the funny papers. Did I mention the art work is excellent too?