Stone Soup: An Old Tale [Hardcover]

Marcia Brown (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Age Level: 4 and up | Grade Level: P and up

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. When three hungry soldiers come to a town where all the food has been hidden, they set out to make soup of water and stones, and all the town enjoys a feast.

--This text refers to the School & Library Binding edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

This old French tale about soldiers who trick miserly villages into making them a feast won a Caldecott Medal when Brown retold and illustrated it in 1947.
Copyright 1986 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From the Publisher

Three soldiers came marching down the road towards a French village. The peasants seeing them coming, suddenly became very busy, for soldiers are often hungry. So all the food was hidden under mattresses or in barns. There followed a battle of wits, with the soldiers equal to the occasion. Stone soup? Why, of course, they could make a wonderful soup of stones...but, of course, one must add a carrot or two...some meat...so it went. Marcia Brown has made of this old tale a very gay book, a carnival of activity, of dancing and laughter. So much goes on in the pictures that children who have once heard the story will turn to them again and again, retelling the story for themselves. A French version of the story is available under the title Une Drole de Soupe.END --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 4 and up
  
• Hardcover
• Publisher: Perfection Learning (August 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0812447581
• ISBN-13: 978-0812447583
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.6 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (32 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,297,676 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The kindest con, April 26, 2004

By 

E. R. Bird "Ramseelbird" (Manhattan, NY) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Stone Soup (Hardcover)

It's funny how a single story changes with the telling. These days the classic tale of how to make stone soup has been told in a myriad of different tellings and versions. But if you harken back a little to Marci Brown's 1947 concoction, you see clearly that the story can be a little more sardonic than its alternate versions. In this tale, villagers are tricked out of their greed and fear into sharing and enjoying life with their neighbors. And it's all thanks to a soup that doesn't even exist.

Three soldiers make their way home from an unnamed war in an unnamed country. Passing a village, the men ask the townspeople for some food and warm beds. Unsurprisingly, the peasants (who, one presumes, have been violently scared into this state of distrust through years of misuse at the hands of soldiers such as these) feign a lack of food or room for the men. Thinking on their feet, the soldiers proclaim that there is nothing for it then but to make stone soup. The astonished town watches and aids the men in their task, providing them with a huge soup cauldron, water, and whatever ingredients the soldiers casually mention. By the end of the evening everyone sits down to a hearty meal and after a good night of carousing the men are given the best beds in town. "And fancy, made from stones!"

The soldiers in this tale are jovial fellows, just as comfortable fooling foolish peasants into acts of selflessness as they are dancing with pretty maids and drinking. That so much joy can come simply from sharing with your fellow man is a moral insinuated from the tale, rather than explicitly spelled out to the reader. Brown's accompanying illustrations encompass roughly four colors; red, black, white, and grey. Though a subtle palette, the figures readily express all the emotions, fears, and energy of the people and their soldier guests. I was charmed by the final throwaway line in the book, written below the peasants as they wave goodbye to the three men. "Such men don't grow on every bush". You could say the same for this book.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stone Soup by Marcia Brown, July 22, 2006

By 

Human Libber "Eclectic Reader" (Sacramento, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Soup (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback)

I remember several stories that I loved very much as a child. One of them is the story of "Stone Soup". I saw it on the Captain Kangaroo television show--- the Captain read the story and the illustrations were shown page by page. I was delighted and spellbound. Everyone knows that you don't give anything away. To do so would be very foolish. Yet, in this story the people do give food away! And in the end, everyone shares in a feast because each one provided one small part of the meal. This is very moving to me. And a lesson that shapes my life every day. Thank you Marcia Brown for your retelling of this timeless tale, and to Bob Keeshan, the Captain, for bringing me this joyful tale. Larry Host, Sacramento, California, July 22, 2006

28 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars How soup made from stones can feed an entire village., May 12, 1999

By 

R. D. Allison ([e-mail]) (Gainesville, Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Stone Soup (Aladdin Picture Books) (Paperback)

This children's book, based on an old French folk tale, is about three soldiers who try to convince a small village to provide them with some food. The villagers say they are too poor and can't. The soldiers then reply that they will make stone soup out of stones and water and are able to trick the villagers into having a village-wide feast. Yeats had a one-act play roughly based on this folk tale as well. The book was a 1948 Caldecott Honor book (i.e., a runner-up to the Medal winner) for best illustration in a book for children.