Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup

by Pamela Mayer, Deborah Melmon (Illustrations)

Two grandmas. Two delicious recipes. And one granddaughter caught in the middle! Sophie loves Bubbe's Jewish chicken soup, made with kreplach. She also loves Nai Nai's Chinese chicken soup, with wonton. But don't tell Bubbe and Nai Nai that their soups are the same! Can Sophie bring her whole family together for a warm and tasty surprise? An inclusive look at a multicultural family, and a little girl's unique approach to combining her family's traditions. The book includes three chicken soup recipes at the end. "[T]he good feelings (and good tastes) that it brings to mind are cooked just right for families like Sophie's―and everyone else―to enjoy."― Kirkus Reviews "This family's story, lovingly depicted in the colorful illustrations, should resonate across cultures."― The Horn Book Guide "This is a wonderful book both for multiethnic families and for developing sensitivity to multiethnic families as well as for anyone interested in cultural similarities in food. Watercolor and pencil illustrations are cheery and bright, with wonderful endpapers which enhance the book's artistic feel."― Jewish Book Council

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Jewish, Childrens, Cultural, Family, Fiction

32 pages, Hardcover

Published August 1, 2016

About the author

Pamela Mayer is the author of six children's books, as well as articles and stories published in children's magazines. When not writing, she is busy playing with her five grandchildren.

Reviews

[Mallory Tome · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a girl names Sophie who notices how each of her grandmas makes soup in a different way. One grandma makes soup with kreplach because she is Jewish. The other grandma makes soup with wontons because she is asian. They both think their soup is the best. Sophie has the great idea to combine both cultures and create a soup with both kreplach and wontons!
The book portrays those who follow the Jewish culture and those who follow the asian culture in a respectful way. The illustrations are great and show the differences between the two sides of the family, as well and their soups. I do believe this book is a little boring and may not be 100% engaging to students.
This book serves as a mirror for children who may have parents from two different cultures. One side of their family may follow some traditions, while the other side follows others. It shows children who experience this to be proud of both of their cultures and find ways to combine them. It also serves as a window for children and adults who do not have a mixed family like the one in the book. It shows them how some families do have parents from two different cultures and the experiences they may have because of this. It also allows these children to see similarities and differences between their culture and others.
A great classroom activity that can stem from this book can relate to students different cultures. Students can partner up and share about their own cultures, then find similarities between them! This can also be done as a class activity where students study different cultures and compare it to their own.

[Jillian · Rating 4 out of 5]

Available on Epic!

[Sonia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken soup as cross-group unifier!! I love the way food acts as a connection to culture for this biracial girl, and how the message is that you can hold so many forms of identity within yourself and celebrate all of them.

[Rachel Bateman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup is a wonderful book to learn about differences within families and how to embrace these differences. The cultural differences of the family members are shown throughout the book. The one grandmother is Chinese, while the other is Jewish. They each have their own take on what their granddaughter should know based on their cultural differences. By the end of the story, their granddaughter, Sophie, has brought them together to show that in their cultural differences, they have similarities as well. This story would be interesting and engaging to many students because it shows that although there may be differences within your family, you all have similarities and are connected by love. The illustrations in the book do a great job of showing the differences between the two grandmothers in a positive way to show that differences are what make us all our unique selves. This story can also be seen as a mirror to students because, when they are reading the story they can relate to how some of their family members differ from one another, but are still connected. In addition, this can be translated into all students being different, but being connected by being the same age and in the same class, plus more of their own interests may be similar. Furthermore, I would recommend this book be shared in a classroom during the first few weeks of school to show that differences in our cultures and family should bring the class together, not break them down. An activity that you could do to extend off of the meaning of the book is to create a web of connectedness with the students. Each student will say something about themselves and anyone who relates will raise their hand and have the yarn thrown their way. This will let students see, visually, that they are all connected in one way or another. This book is a MUST have in my future classroom!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

As someone with a combined family of Chinese and European descent, I really appreciated this adorable story of a little girl trying to placate the grandmothers of different cultures and attempting to merge the traditions. This book is an important one for all the children of inter-cultural marriages. The sweet illustrations are perfect for the story, too.

My only quibble is that the default meat for wonton fillings is pork, and pork is forbidden in the Jewish religion, so maybe a note should be added to the recipe (I love that there are recipes in the back matter!) that explains this. I don’t think I’ve ever had a wonton with ground chicken in it; it’s just not authentic. But this small detail doesn’t detract from the overall appeal of the book.

[Alyson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the line "How can a little piece of dough, stuffed with meat and floating in a bowl of chicken soup cause a problems?" It addresses family dynamics perfectly!

[Cara Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A good premise about family traditions from two distinct (yet very similar) cultures, brought together by a multicultural granddaughter

[Theediscerning · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer – I didn't read this book, rather I witnessed it through the medium of read-along Youtube video, courtesy a month-long programme of such events devised by the publisher. Even though lockdowns are getting to be a thing of the past I cannot see a reason not to applaud such an initiative, aiding educators and youth literacy groups with free materials. And yes, I am still providing my opinions entirely off my own bat and with no thoughts of bias, prejudice or baksheesh.

Now, despite the title – and despite the repetition in the title – this is not a book about soup. It's very obvious what it is doing, and is none the worse for it when we find out early on. Our heroine has one Jewish grandmother, one Chinese one, and they both make chicken soup with twists of dumpling in – wontons or kreplach, depending on who you ask. But lo and behold, there is a twist to both recipes that show they're even closer to each other than ever assumed, and after all, combining both recipes in one granddaughter – I'm sorry, I mean stock pot – makes the best of both worlds.

This then is a boost for mixed-race children, showing that heritage coming from two directions through the simple approach of a soup recipe can easily be better than one, with neither side being the superior way to go. The lesson is welcome, overt and yet not overly so, and done very well here, with bright cartoonish style to the visuals and a sense of levity. It's enjoyable enough to leave you wanting recipes.

[Clotie Simmons · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chicken Soup, Chicken Soup by Pamela Myer was not initially what I pegged it out to be. When you first analyze the book’s cover you see what seems to be a little Asian girl, smiling under two elderly women. The women’s facial expressions to me looked like they were going to make the girl choose between the two chicken soups on the cover. Diving into the book you get not only a story of a young girl’s unorthodox idea, but information any young child could achieve in the kitchen with a loved one. Maybe even getting some insight into another culture apart from their own, like Sophie’s grandmothers did. The book’s illustrations are done by Deborah Melmon. She creates a story within the pictures. Using the facial expressions of the characters to guide you in what may be going through Sophie and each of the grandmother’s minds. Sophie is a multicultural little girl with one Jewish grandmother, and one Chinese grandmother. As you float between Sophie’s visits within both homes you get a clear sense that Sophie has an appreciation for both of her grandmother’s dishes. I can understand that to her grandmothers these dishes hold a deeper value, other than appreciation. These dishes represent who they are and what they love. It can be understandable where they may be offended when their grandchildren don’t have that same understanding of their dish’s roots. To Sophie chicken soup is chicken soup. I feel this book showed what could be a struggle within multicultural families and created a story of coming together in a beautiful, unorthodox way. Most times it takes the upcoming generation to bring together our differences and use them to feed and love everybody.

[Elisabeth Ovalles · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was such a great book! I enjoyed how the author portrayed the character, they were current and accurate to each of the traditions and values shared in the book. The characters were portrayed with positive images of the specified ethnicity. It was an easy-to-read book that I think any student at a young level can read. The illustrations in the book were colorful and represented the book's theme. It gave a warm home feel that anyone can relate to. It is a mirror to students because traditions from both sides of the family can be slightly or significantly different but at their core can be similar. The book talks about how these two dishes intertwine with one another and how they use different ingredients from each other culture. When thinking about thanksgiving families are coming together to share and eat each other dishes. It's a mirror to students because even though the families can be different from one another, they both come together for a good time. This book can be used as an activity in the classroom to introduce an activity about students' backgrounds. Students can research about themselves and where their families come from, traditions, etc., and find the similarities and differences between them.

[Rose Rosetree · Rating 5 out of 5]

"How could a little piece of dough, stuffed with meat and floating in a bowl of chicken soup, cause a problem?"

Well put. Now, what's an equally pertinent question, given that this book includes two visits when a grandma prepares chicken soup for Sophie? How much rivalry can there be between both of those grandmothers?

Although I'm not a grandmother, I've known many. I'm here to tell some of you younger folk that grandma rivalries can turn pretty ugly.

But hooray, not in this picture book. Here the tale's ending turns out to be a friendly exercise in multiculturalism: Tasty, this a love story with a happy ending! FIVE STARS, for every character in the book to share.

[Shoshanna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely LOVED this! A girl with an Ashkenazi Jewish mother and Chinese father must reconcile each grandma's kind of chicken soups, with kneydlakh and wontons respectively! Her way of showing how they are different but similar comes through a very clever method. I love a soup based story book! And I love how this finds ways to show the intertwining of Ashkenazi Jewish and Chinese food cultures. Definitely recommended!

[Teresa · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was our PJLibrary selection this month. The book uses two grandmothers and their Jewish vs Chinese chicken soup to teach about two different cultures blending in a family. It was a very sweet book and a perfect early lesson on diversity. A fun extra: the recipes for Bubbe and NaiNai's chicken soups are included!

[Sasha Boersma · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun story for interracial families, exploring the differences and similarities of a dish. I love that the premise is around the child being confused and not really seeing the difference. The book feels like it’s more for the parent reading the book than the young reader themselves.

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful idea for a children's picture book. And the illustrations are very nice.

[Emily · Rating 4 out of 5]

One grandma is Jewish, and the other is Chinese. They both make different soup, but it's still chicken soup!

[Allison Ofanansky · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is adorable! A simple and warm look at mixed-faith/culture families.

[Travis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoy this story about a girl from two cultures (Jewish and Chinese) finding a way to enjoy both cultures in one dish. The book even includes the three recipes in the back

[Alyssa Park · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a cute book about mixed families and merging those different cultures together. Features recipes at the end!

[Peyton Lewis · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an adorable book that can show children that every part that makes them them is special. It also shows how bringing cultures together is special and important. A great read and will for sure be going in my future classroom library.

[Magda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read to K and M for the Cedar Rapids winter reading challenge. Cute idea, well executed, and nicely illustrated. Also includes recipes.

Held up to a re-read pretty well.

[Rebecca]

I like that this story shows the commonalities of different cultures and that we can live within both without compromising who we are. Plus, it’s about delicious soup!

[Mollie B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Perfect for storytime!

[Erin · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lovely story about blending two strong cultures into something new. Our protagonist, Sophie, inadvertently triggers a micro culture clash between her two grandmothers (One Jewish, One Chinese) and their chicken soup recipes. Her solution isn't particularly elegant, but it serves the purpose and sounds delicious.

In the end, who doesn't like chicken soup?

Includes recipes for two versions of chicken soup.

[Viviane Elbee · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like how this book shows the differences and similarities in two cultures (Chinese and Jewish), from the viewpoint of the multi-cultural granddaughter.

[Elizabeth · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really cute story about the ways a young girl is able to appreciate and enjoy the similarities and differences between the cultures of her background, Chinese and Jewish. Recommended.