Stone Soup

by Ann McGovern

Book Overview

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." In print for 30 years.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590416022
• ISBN13: 9780590416023
• Release Date: September 1986
• Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
• Length: 32 Pages
• Weight: 0.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.1" x 7.4" x 7.4"
• Age Range: 4 to 8 years
• Grade Range: Preschool to Grade 3

Customer Reviews

Great, timeless book!

I'm probably not the norm here in comparison to the other reviewers, but this is really a cute book. After reading the other reviews, I'll probably get the other version as well. However, that said, my mother purchased this book for me when I was six-years-old and I STILL have it. It is read almost nightly in our house to a toddler who thoroughly enjoys it. He particularly likes to point out what's wrong. For example, the little old lady tells the young man that she has nothing in her garden to feed him, nor anything in her house. My little one always says, "she's lying." And, he also picked up the fact that the young man in the story never says please or even thank you after this lady fixes him this wonderful soup. That's really something too and I even have to add it in while I'm reading it. This is a cute book but I do suggest getting the other French classic version as well. This young man is somewhat of a shiftless fellow, not working, but just conning meals off of folks. Not too sure of the message there and it is repetitious which is good for young children. I do recommend it, however, since it is quite a cute story. Obviously, the illustrations in my 36-year-old book are quite different than this version so I will refrain from commenting on them.

Good Taste For Reading

Stone Soup is very fun reading. This is a great story because it keeps you interested from start to finish. This story tells of a young man who is off on a long walk and gets hungry. He goes to a little old lady's house and asks to be fed. After she turns him down he offers to make stone soup for them both. So the two boil a stone but soon add onions, carrots, beef bones, barley and many other things to make it taste better. The two then go on to share a very nice afternoon together before the young man heads out for another long walk. I really enjoyed the parts where the little old lady gathers all of the fancy things needed to make the soup. That's why I think that most other people should enjoy this book too.

A classic tale! Always a pleasure!

Stone Soup is a classic story brought to life through the pictures by Winslow Pinney Pels. A young man, a pauper, spies a house that looks like plenty of food could be found there. The old woman who owns the house tells him to go away, she has no food in the house, no food in the garden. The young man asks her for a stone. "A stone, what do you want with a stone," she curiously asks the pauper. "Ah," says he, and he knows he HAS her. As the story unfolds, the young man has the woman adding more and more ingredients to the stone soup the young man is making. Completely duped, until possibly the very end, the old woman is the young man's accomplice in tricking herself into providing the pauper with a "feast for a king." And what will become of the stone, read the story, and find out! You'll enjoy it!

humorously imaginative

This is probably my ALL-TIME favorite children's book! Its witty and funny, and is a wonderful story for children of all ages. The story grows more delightful as the old maid continues to make soup for this hungry passerby while she thinks its from the stone, and all the while he's tricking her. This story is absolutely fit for a king, fancy that!

Review for Stone Soup

This is the BEST book I have ever read! I still enjoy reading this book even today. I especially love how the pieper gets the old woman to cook him a huge pot of soup, from a stone. Also she has no idea that she is making him a soup. She thinks he really did make soup from that stone. This is by far the greatest book I have ever read! If I had the choice I would rate this book six stars. This is still my favorite book to this date and it will continue to be forever! I would recommend this book to everyone.