In Stone Soup, three hungry and tired
soldiers are making their way home from war. On the way, they see a village and
decide to ask for some food and a place to sleep. The peasants see them coming
and quickly hide their food. When the soldiers ask, they all make up excuses.
The soldiers then come up with the idea of stone soup. Stones can make a
delicious soup, but it would taste much better if only there was some carrots,
beef, barley, and more…
I
remember reading Stone Soup when I was
younger and loving it. We even made stone soup in kindergarten class. The story
line is great. It teaches imagination, sharing, and cunning innovation. The
pictures may not appeal as much to the younger audience, because it is mainly
black, white, and orange. Additionally,
it is a little lengthy, but I think the story line will be able to keep a child’s
attention.
Title:
Stone Soup
Author:
Marcia Brown
Publisher:
Atheneum Books for Young Readers
Publication
Date: 1975
ISBN:
9780684922966
Rating:
4 out of 5 stars
The Three Questions is based on a Leo
Tolstoy novel. A young boy named Nikolai believed that if he could find the
answers to his three questions, he would always know what to do in order to be
a good person. "When is the best time to do things? Who is the most
important one? What is the right thing to do?" He begins by asking his
friends, the heron, monkey, and dog, whose answers to do not satisfy Nikolai.
Nikolai decides that he must ask Leo, an old wise turtle. While visiting Leo, he helps Leo with
his garden and ends up rescuing an injured panda and her cub, and in so doing,
finds the answers he seeks.
I found The
Three Questions
very inspiring and thought provoking. It may interest young children with its
animal characters and illustrations, but I think it will benefit older children
and adults more. The questions that Nikolai has are difficult to answer, but at
the same time, simple. I find that the soft watercolor illustrations go very
well with the story. The colors are calming throughout the book, except for the
dark colors used to depict the storm.
Title:
The Three Questions
Author:
John J. Muth
Publisher:
Scholastic Press
Publication
Date: 2002
ISBN:
9780439199964
Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
The Wolf Who Cried Boy takes an old tale
and reverses it. Little Wolf is tired of eating the same foods every day and
wishes his mother could make his favorite dinner, a boy. Father Wolf tells him
that it is rare to find boys around, but promises that if Little Wolf can find
one, they will catch the boy and cook him for Little Wolf. On his way home from
school, he sniffs the air and smells the same old food, so he decides to play a
trick. He tells his parents that he found a boy in the woods, and his parents
look everywhere for the boy. When they come home, they find their dinner ruined
and end up eating snacks. Little Wolf decides to do the same thing the next
day. However, the next night Father Wolf hears about Little Wolf’s plan and
decides to ignore his tricks. Unfortunately, the next day a Boy Scout troop
comes by, but no one believes him. One mischievous boy manages to sneak in and
out of his house before Father Wolf looks up. In the end, Little Wolf continues
to eat the same old foods and ends up enjoying them.
The Wolf Who Cried Boy was a great twist
on a classic fable. The story line was fun with witty food names such as “sloppy
does,” “chocolate moose,” and “boys-and-berry pie.” The pictures were fantastic
with a lot of detail. Each pencil stroke is visible, especially in the fur of
the wolves. Even though I knew what was going to happen, it still captured my
attention and kept me interested by throwing in little twists.
Title:
The Wolf Who Cried Boy
Author:
Bob Hartman
Publisher:
G.P. Putnam’s Sons
Publication
Date: 2002
ISBN:
9780399235788
Rating:
5 out of 5 stars
