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Summary
Summary
When all the animals are too mean to share their food with Fox, he decides to make some stone soup....WHAT?! Soup from a stone? Impossible! But with a little bit of cunning, Fox makes the soup taste simply delicious! Fox Tale Soup is the perfect recipe for a scrumptious retelling of a traditional tale.
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
PreS-Gr 1-In this delightful retelling of "Stone Soup," a weary fox stops by a farm with the hope of getting some spare food. The stingy animals decide that they won't share with him, so he resorts to his wily ways to get some sustenance. Asking for a "drop of water to make some soup," the fox pulls a pot from his backpack, lights a fire, and drops a stone into the pot. As in the original, he declares that the soup is just "not quite right," wondering whether some salt and pepper, turnip, carrot, cabbage, and corn would enhance its flavor. With predictable results, the animals gather the necessary ingredients and enjoy a steaming bowl together. The illustrations add to the flavor of this story, as Hobson garnishes the pages with vivid green and blue backgrounds upon which a cartoon-looking sheep, cow, goat, donkey, and hens romp. While the original version of the story is as charming as ever, Fox Tale Soup is still an attractive addition.-Lisa Gangemi Krapp, Middle Country Public Library, Centereach, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Scottish author Bonning and Hobson (Three Bugs Full) don't change the recipe for the folktale "Stone Soup," but they do serve up a satisfying retelling. Down a dust-brown country road comes a brick-red fox, toting a blue backpack. He stops next to a wall of smooth, round stones, and calls to some farm animals, "Can you spare a little food for a hungry traveler?" When they refuse, the fox empties his backpack which contains only an iron-gray pot and "Sheep, who was slightly kinder than the others," gets some water. As the curious animals watch, Fox selects a rock for his soup, then graciously requests a pinch of this and that. As Bonning succinctly describes the sequence, Hobson focuses on each animal's role. Donkey brings a carrot by the greens, and Goat leans forward so that Fox may lift a cabbage off his horn; in the end, all the animals crowd in a semicircle around the bubbling soup, which Fox shares. The illustrator models curved, dense shapes on an opaque field of leafy green, and her full-bleed spreads harmonize with the calm, concise writing. Fox exchanges a smile with his cooperative friends as he takes his leave, confirming the peaceful sense of balance in this time-tested trickster story. Ages 4-8. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
This retelling of Stone Soup is fairly traditional, save for the farm setting and animal characters. In this version, a crafty fox tricks some farm animals into helping him make a tasty soup, And all from a stone! No surprises here--Fox doesn't try to add the animals to the pot, nor do the animals seem afraid of him. As a result, the story is somewhat flat, but the illustrations, featuring rich colors and simple figures, are eye-catching. From HORN BOOK Fall 2002, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
The stingy animals won't spare any food for a hungry fox, so he boils a pot of water, adds a stone, and pronounces his soup "not quite right." The puzzled and curious animals fetch each item suggested by the fox to improve the soup. When it's finally just right, they all share it, amazed at the delicious results. The familiar folktale is retold with simplicity and humor. The fox is a creative chef who needs additional ingredients to perfect his recipe; these additions are not just thrown willy-nilly into the pot. There's "a touch of salt and pepper," a "sprinkling of corn," a "taste" of chopped turnip, and a "hint" of chopped carrot. The soup is sniffed and sipped at each stage until the animals and the readers are licking their lips over the mouth-watering concoction. "And all from a stone!" Hobson's vibrant illustrations are delightfully eccentric: in the "wide-angle" scenes, the farmhouse and the animals could easily slide down the hill; the hens carry the corn kernels in a demented dash; all of the dimwitted animals have slightly goofy expressions. What fun! Only the punny title hits a wrong note. Since it was published in England as Stone Soup, why the change? No matter, young readers will eat this one up. (Picture book. 4-8)
Booklist Review
Ages 4-8. Animal characters add a refreshing twist to an old favorite in this retelling of Stone Soup. Here, Fox is the traveler who dupes the initially stingy villagers--a barnyard full of animals. In the original version, the animals go into the pot, but in this version they're clustered around it, waiting for the vegetarian stew to cook, with no humans in sight. Bonning's text maintains a traditional folktale style that uses basic, unstilted vocabulary, and Hobson's uncluttered paintings in saturated colors focus on the large-size animal characters, which will be easy to view from a story-hour distance. There are plenty of versions of this story, but children will appreciate the simplicity and new perspectives in this attractive British import. --Gillian Engberg