Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0689878362, Paperback)

First published in 1947, this picture book classic has remained one of Marcia Brown's most popular and enduring books. This story, about three hungry soldiers who outwit the greedy inhabitants of a village into providing them with a feast, is based on an old French tale.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0689711034, Paperback)

Marcia Brown. Three soldiers came marching down the road towards a French village. The peasants seeing them coming, suddenly became very busy. So all the food was hidden under mattresses or in barns. There followed a battle of wits, with the soldiers equa

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 043933909X, Hardcover)

Three strangers, hungry and tired, pass through a war-torn village. Embittered and suspicious from the war, the people hide their food and close their windows tight. That is, until the clever strangers suggest making a soup from stones. Intrigued by the idea, everyone brings what they have until-- together, they have made a feast fit for a king! In this inspiring story about the strength people possess when they work together, Muth takes a simple, beloved tale and adds his own fresh twist.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0439640229, Paperback)

Three monks, Hok, Lok, and Siew, journey along a mountain road trying to understand what makes one happy. At once the monks encounter frightened villagers who lock their windows and darken their homes. The villagers have long been ravaged by harsh times, and their hearts have grown hard toward everyone they meet. But when the monks cleverly entice them to make soup from stones, the villagers discover how much they each have give, and how much more comes back in return. With magnificent watercolors that invite reflection of deeper meaning, Jon J Muth combines his love of Zen Buddhism and Eastern culture with a favorite old trickster tale that celebrates the power of generosity.

Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0684922967, Hardcover)

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 tow...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 Drôle de Soupe.