read and cook: Stone Soup

Today we made stone soup.

I brought the stone.

The kids brought everything else.

It was really yummy.

Of course, we read, reread, retold and reread and retold some more the book, Stone Soup.

Stone Soup

written by Ann McGovern
illustrated by Winslow Pinney Pels

published by Scholastic (1986)
juvenile fiction
suitable for ages 3 - 7

folktale, 

opening lines  
A young man was walking down the road.
He walked and he walked.
He walked all day and he walked all night.
He was tired and very hungry.

synopsis

A clever young man tricks an old woman into believing that soup can be made from a stone. As the pot of water boils with the stone in it, he urges her to add more and more ingredients until the soup is a feast "fit for a king." -- Amazon description

I like this book because ...  
I like this book because of its potential for retelling.  The text does the job of telling the story. There is a good amount of repetition - "Soup from a stone" said the little old lady, "fancy that" is repeated after each addition to the soup pot.  I am not very fond of the book illustrations; the little old lady reminds me of the Queen of Hearts from Alice in Wonderland, and the young man does not inspire connection or empathy. But the book is a great springboard for individual or group retelling.  And it has been in print since 1968 (Ann McGovern's text) and with the current illustrations since 1986. It  must be standing the test of time.
`
resources ...
Stone Soup is perfect for retelling.  I made a super easy flannel board set that I retell the story with, 

 and then set out for the kidlets to use. 

At the end of the story, the young man puts the stone in his pocket before heading out down the road on his journey.  One year, I forgot to take the flannel stone out of my pocket at the end of the story, and put it through the wash by accident.  It was one of those fortunate accidents, because the stone came out all rough, bumpy and more stone-like.  

We made stone soup today.  Into the pot went the stone. (The white stripe adds flavour - honest!)

Then the kidlets put in all the goodies that they brought from home.  

As usual, the soup was quite carrot heavy, but we also had purple potatoes, and yellow zucchini.  The school smelled fabulous all day and the soup was delicious.

A couple of the kidlets helped me set a table "fit for a king".

The soup was enjoyed, until all that was left was the stone.  Luckily, it hasn't been "used up" yet.  We will save it again to use next year.

We also made a recipe so that the kidlets could show their grownups how to make stone soup.  We glued the ingredients in the correct order.  

Click on the graphic for your free download.

(Sorry, I don't have the second page as a download; it is printed on 11x17" paper, and I don't know how to make a printable that size.)

DLTK has links to some stone soup activities.

happy cooking,