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)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-84900-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Turkey’s in the “kind of trouble where it’s almost Thanksgiving...and you’re the main course.” Accordingly, Turkey tries on disguise after disguise, from horse to cow to pig to sheep, at each iteration being told that he looks nothing like the animal he’s trying to mimic (which is quite true, as Harper’s quirky watercolors make crystal clear). He desperately squeezes a red rubber glove onto his head to pass as a rooster, only to overhear the farmer suggest a poultry plan B when he’s unable to turn up the turkey. Turkey’s horrified expression as he stands among the peppers and tomatoes—in November? Chalk it up to artistic license—is priceless, but his surroundings give him an idea. Good fun, but it may lead to a vegetarian table or two. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-7614-5529-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies.
Pigeon finds something better to drive than some old bus.
This time it’s Santa delivering the fateful titular words, and with a “Ho. Ho. Whoa!” the badgering begins: “C’mon! Where’s your holiday spirit? It would be a Christmas MIRACLE! Don’t you want to be part of a Christmas miracle…?” Pigeon is determined: “I can do Santa stuff!” Like wrapping gifts (though the accompanying illustration shows a rather untidy present), delivering them (the image of Pigeon attempting to get an oversize sack down a chimney will have little ones giggling), and eating plenty of cookies. Alas, as Willems’ legion of young fans will gleefully predict, not even Pigeon’s by-now well-honed persuasive powers (“I CAN BE JOLLY!”) will budge the sleigh’s large and stinky reindeer guardian. “BAH. Also humbug.” In the typically minimalist art, the frustrated feathered one sports a floppily expressive green and red elf hat for this seasonal addition to the series—but then discards it at the end for, uh oh, a pair of bunny ears. What could Pigeon have in mind now? “Egg delivery, anyone?”
A stocking stuffer par excellence, just right for dishing up with milk and cookies. (Picture book. 4-6)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2023
ISBN: 9781454952770
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Union Square Kids
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
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