Phil Huling

Genre: Legend (fiction)

Summary: When the local town hears the soldiers are coming to their town they hide all of their food so that the soldiers do not take it all. When the soldiers come they sure enough ask for food, but when they hear there is no food they end up tricking the town into giving them food to make "cactus" soup. This is a twist on the folktale Stone Soup. Although tricked, the townspeople and the soldiers ended up having a good time together at their spontaneous fiesta. show more

Review: This is a great twist on the folktale Stone Soup. It is a funny rendition that could allow for a tie in of the Mexican revolution. The outcome of creating soup from a cactus spike is unrealistic, but the deeper message does successfully come across through this story. show less

"Stone Soup" is one of my favorite folktales, so it's not terribly surprising that I enjoyed this Mexican variation. A smattering of Spanish words add flavor to the text, and while I'm not sure how accurately the illustrations reflect Mexican faces, shapes, and colors, I found the warm palette and lanky silhouettes atmospheric and inviting.

Personal Response:

I loved this book. I love the story "Stone Soup" and have had a lot of fun with it with my students. Living in New Mexico, the Mexican/Southwestern twists make this story even more relevant to us!

School/Library Uses:

During the after-school program at my school, I've used one of the more traditional "Stone Soup" versions, and made stone soup with the kids. When, a certain ingredient was mentioned, the student with that ingredient put it in the pot. It would be a lot of fun show more to do the same thing with this book.

I also want to do a unit on adaptations, and this book would be a good one to include. show less

Eric Kimmel gives new life to the same old hum drum fairytales! His charecters truly come to life...my husband and I find oursleves reading with crazy new voices we didn't realize we had. My children love that they recognize the story, but that it also has a new twist. Big faves at our house include Cactus Soup (Stone soup), The Runaway Tortilla (The Gingerbread Man), and The Three Cabritos (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). These tales are fun for the adult readers, as well as the kiddoes...for show more Kimmels great commentary on those with a "small world-view" check out Pumpkinhead. Great tales, with great lessons! show less