The author's (Marcia Brown's) version of the the Stone Soup thematics clearly demonstrate that the peasants (the villagers) do not simply fear strangers in general, they specifically fear strangers who are soldiers. The illustrations notwithstanding, I am also pleasantly surprised by the story itself. A more than succesful marriage of text and image and if an author's note had been included, my now four star rating would most definitely have been moved to five stars (the mere fact that Marcia Brown's Stone Soup, that this 1948 Caldecott Honour book is still in current print, that alone already speaks volumes). And those illustrations really are wonderful (attention to detail, captured movement, realistic facial expressions), and the simple combination of white, black, grey and orange shades works surprisingly well. After a while, the soup pot was filled with many wonderful flavors and the entire village had a feast.Įverybody thanked the stranger and he was there for many days to feed them the Stone Soup.As someone who generally likes and actually much prefers lushly coloured and hued illustrations, I was not expecting to enjoy Marcia Brown's version of the European folktale of Stone Soup as much as I have. They all added their vegetables to the soup. The man said of course, but it would taste so much better if I only had an onion, so she added her onion to the soup.Īll the people in the village started to smell the stone soup and came to see what the man was cooking. The villager came back with a handful of beans and added it to the soup.Ī woman came along and asked what the man was making. The man said of course, but it would taste so much better if I only had some beans to add. The villager said that he had never heard of Stone Soup and asked if he could have some.

The man said 'of course, but it would taste so much better if I only had a potato to add, so the farmer gave him a potato.Īlong came another villager and he asked the man what he was making. The farmer said that he had never heard of Stone Soup and asked if he could have some. He added a stone to the pot full of water and brought it to the village.

The man went to the lake and filled a pot with water. The farmer said that all the people of village were hungry and the children were weak. There was a farmer that came and the man asked the farmer why everyone was hiding. One day a man went to a village and all the people were hiding.

Stone soup 1947