Stone Soup

I really enjoyed the illustrations of Stone Soup, Pels showed very detailed emotions of the characters. This is a cute trickster tale that children will enjoy. I liked how the dress of the characters reflected the time period that this tale originated from, it is a very authentic take on this tale. I believe the message of this book reminds us, in a comical way, of people we may know that are very gullible like the old woman

I thought that this was a very cute book. This story is about a man who had been traveling for a long time, and stopped at an elderly lady's house in search for some food. He assumed that she would have a lot of food, but she had very little. This demonstrates that people should not be so quick to assume things. The boy ends up asking for a stone saying that he can make soup from it. He tricks the old lady into adding edible ingredients, which eventually forms a soup. The two eventually become friends and share the soup together. The old lady is surprised at how a soup could have been made from such simple ingredients. The cleverness of the boy is something that young readers may find humorous. I also enjoyed the repetition of the show more "fancy that!" from the old woman, which is something that young children could catch on to. Overall, I think this book is a great example of teaching how something big can be made from something small. show less

Stone soup is a tradition European folk tale and about three monks that enter a village plagued with war, famine, floods and hatred. The villagers do not trust one another and they do not speak to each other. The monks enter the village with a goal to find out what makes people happy. The began to make stone soup in the middle of the village and the first person to talk to them and offer help is a small girl who offers her families huge to make more stone soup. A lot more of the villagers noticed what was going on and started to offer there things to the stone soup. Eventually the entire village was there for a feast and everyone was once again friendly with each other. The little girl reminds me of myself, I was a very curious child show more but I do not think I would have walked up to strangers to talk to them. I feel like the main idea of this story is to show readers that sharing is the best way to get to know each other. It states in the text from a villager "You have shown us that sharing makes us all richer" and this is so very true when all the villagers came together to contribute what they had to the soup they had so much soup to feast on. Eating together made everyone friends, it change the entire vibe of the village all because three monks wanted to make stone soup. Which I also feel is the big idea of the story is that it does not take a lot or a bunch of people to make a big change. show less

What a great story to be told and retold forever. It is a great story to learn about sharing and treating everyone equal. Grade- 2nd I really enjoy the pictures and sequence of events.

A fairly straightforward retelling.  Maybe a little long because there's a verse & chorus thing going on.  But the young man is not a soldier, and there are no neighbors.  The best thing about this edition are the creative illustrations by Winslow Pinney Pels.  I will look for more by her.

I remember reading this in first grade and thinking it was the coolest book, I now see the deeper meaning and creativity

This story is also great for teaching children how to share. I like to do a class project where we discuss what we all bring to the table and how being a community is good for everyone. Children love the humor, and it is great for a lesson plot as well.