Grandpa's Soup

by Eiko Kadono

Book Overview

After the death of his wife, an old man gradually realizes that making the soup she used to cook and sharing it with friends eases his loneliness. A warm story about loss and friendship. Color... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0802851959
• ISBN13: 9780802851956
• Release Date: January 1999
• Publisher: Eerdmans Books for Young Readers
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.80 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 8.3" x 10.1"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

There are many lessons of love, tolerance, respect, and sharing to be learned

"Grandpa's Soup" is a 32-page paperback designed for children ages 4-8 that tells the poignant tale of a widower who grieves for the death of his dear wife, eating only bread and milk day after day. When finally he decides to attempt to reconstruct a meatball soup just like his dear wife used to make, he uses the very smallest of his 5 cooking pots because he thinks he is only making enough soup for himself. But he has a surprise! Three tiny mice come to be his guests for a meal of humble meatball soup! He welcomes his guests and after feeding all of them finds just a little soup left for himself, which he eats, noting that it does not taste quite as good as the soup his dear wife used to make. There follows a lovely learning progression where he remembers more of the little song his wife used to sing when she made the soup, adding more tasty ingredients and making more soup every day, and welcoming at least one more surprise guest each time! The last time he makes the soup, it is full of wonderful healthy ingredients and his surprise guests include three mice, a cat, a dog and nine children, all of whom are friends and all of whom love Grandpa's soup! Thus rejoined to the living stream of joy and life, Grandpa decides that next time he will make soup using all his five pots! "Grandpa's Soup" is beautifully illustrated with subtle, shaded pictures that convey the mood of each stage of Grandpa's journey from sadness to joy again. His heartache for the absent wife is tenderly conveyed in drawings of her empty chair, with knitting by the side, and a vase of dead flowers nearby. The same setting shows the changes in grandpa's mood by first emptying the vase of dead flowers, then filling it with fresh new flowers, honoring his kind wife's legacy of love for him. There are many lessons of love, tolerance, respect, and sharing to be learned in "Grandpa's Soup."

Soup's On

As Grandpa mourns the loss of Grandma, he develops a desire for soup just like Grandma used to make. He works at remembering the recipe and discovers the reason she had so many pots for making soup. A great book to have on hand for children dealing with death or loss. I have watched my grandfather mourn this same loss and develop a desire for beets made just like Grandma used to make them.

Soup Anyone!

A wonderful story that moves from sad to happy, dark to light. It touches you with laughter and deep feels for grandpa. The simple use of soup brings the human spirit back to life and a death. A wonderful children's book for children to learn about how "eating soup" with older people can mean so much.