Children's Books discussion
The Picture-Book Club
>
June 2010: Discuss Our "Culinary Delights" Club Reads HERE
message 51:
by
Crystal
(last edited Jun 12, 2010 11:53PM)
(new)
Jun 12, 2010 11:47PM
I got to read Fannie in the Kitchen: The Whole Story From Soup to Nuts of How Fannie Farmer Invented Recipes with Precise Measurements this weekend. I really enjoyed it. I was transported into the 1800's in a matter of seconds. I found the story fun to read and quite charming. I especially enjoyed Marcia's character. I think it was great how the artist started and finished the book with a licking of a dish showing Marcia learns to cook as wonderfully as Fannie. I, like some of you, learned a few things. My parents just got chickens recently and I also started going to the farmer's market. It is great to have additional ways to check for good eggs. Speaking of which my sister and I were baking the other day, we cracked open a dozen eggs in a carton from a well known producer and 8 out of 12 were double yolks. Umm, something just didn't seem right about that. What are they feeding those chickens? I decided maybe it was time to go organic in that area. I have to say, I am more of a waffle girl myself. I did find the pancake recipe at the end a recipe I would try for my husband. I am eager to read the other selections for this month.
reply
|
flag
That is curious, Crystal. I agree it may be time to go organic, because free range (and in my case, organic as well) chickens don't have a disproportionate number of double yolks. I am expecting my copy of "Fannie" any day now and have to keep reminding myself there are still plenty of days left in the month to read it. Can't wait.A welcome back from me too, Kathryn and don't worry because many of us are still waiting to get books, so you are not far behind.
Mod
Good to know! :-) Thank you!!!
Mod
Dim Sum for Everyone! is new to me and I was eager to read it. I am less enthusiastic about but it was still well worth reading. I enjoyed reading all your different perspectives on the illustrations here and also how your kids responded to the book. The illustrations were really not my cup of tea, and I thought the story was just a bit too sparse and nothing really "special" in the telling--but I could totally see my kid-self LOVING this book. I would be absolutely obsessed with the idea of getting to go to a restaurant and pick out my own "little" dishes of food. Oh my, what fun! And, okay, even as an adult I am kind of enamored with the idea and want to go to a Dim Sum bar now! I actually really liked the note at the back of the book explaining the history of dim sum--I love learning more about food and cultures!
Mod
I agree with your assessment of Dim Sum for Everyone!. The illustrations really don't do much for me at all, but that is probably because I generally do not like book illustrations that are too cartoon-like. The story itself, while cute and sweet, is also rather short on substance. As you already stated, it is rather sparse and there is really nothing to it, at least nothing that makes it magical. Personally, what I liked best were the front pages (listing some of the ingredients and utensils used to prepare and consume Dim Sum), and especially the last two pages (listing Dim Sum dishes in both English and Chinese). I have often gone out to Dim Sum restaurants with friends, and I've always wanted to know the names (in English and Chinese) of my favourite dishes.
Mod
Those last 2 pages were my favorite part of the Dim Sum book.
This discussion really makes me want to seek out a Dim Sum restaurant! I agree my favorite part of the book was the last pages.
Crystal wrote: "This discussion really makes me want to seek out a Dim Sum restaurant! I agree my favorite part of the book was the last pages."Crystal - I'll join you!
Kay wrote: "Crystal wrote: "This discussion really makes me want to seek out a Dim Sum restaurant! I agree my favorite part of the book was the last pages."Crystal - I'll join you!"
Great! I may have a problem deciding which dishes I want! =) We may have to try them all!
Mod
Just just finished reading the book (first time, too) and I thought that the story was quite wonderful. I would probably not go as far as to say that it would have been a favourite if I had read it when I was a child, but I certainly would have loved the illustrations and the story line.
I like what you have said about how food becomes a problem when it is uncontrollable. This book seems to mingle two European traditions, the legend of the Land of Cockaigne (a land of milk and honey, where residents do not have to work and where food is not only readily available, but fish, already cooked, swim in the rivers and the houses are made of gingerbread and candies), combined with fairy stories of uncontrollable cooking and food (like the many stories of magic cooking pots that continue cooking porridge until the entire house etc. is covered with the stuff). There is a feeling that free and magical food (and the fact that one does not have to do much in order to receive/eat it) is not only generally too good to be true, but that it can have an adverse affect if one is unable to control/master it.
Mod
I was quite pleasantly surprised at both the quality of the illustrations and the narrative in Marcia Brown's Stone Soup. The simple combination of the colours used in the illustrations worked surprisingly well, and I found that they also captured both the movements and the facial expressions, the spirit of the characters. But, what really caught my fancy, was the story itself (a French version of the Stone Soup tale). Marcia Brown's narrative clearly shows that the peasants are not simply curmudgeons and hostile towards strangers, they are especially leery of these three strangers because they are soldiers, and soldiers have a rather nasty reputation for ransacking villages, for taking any food and provisions they desire (thus, the peasants hiding their food might at least be understandable, and they have also no way of knowing wether these soldiers are friendly or not).
The soldiers turn out to not only be friendly, they manage to entice the villagers to share what they have by a smart little trick, by using their own wits, instead of threats (and without any form of preachiness). The communal feast of stone soup not only celebrates sharing, community and tolerance, it also leaves the villagers with a much more accepting and less suspicious attitude towards soldiers.
After reading the description of Heather Forest's Stone Soup and looking at the wonderful book cover, I was expecting to really enjoy this picture book. However, while I thought that the illustrations were simply gorgeous, I thought that Heather Forest's narrative was a bit too didactic. Why is the magic ingredient of "sharing" spelled out so overtly and repeatedly? We all (even children) know that sharing is considered to be a virtue, and it would have been nice to have had the former portrayed in a less obvious, more organic fashion.
Also, while the villagers in Marcia Brown's version at least had some legitimate reasons to perhaps fear the soldiers and hide their food, the villagers in Heather Forest's retelling are simply described as not liking strangers. They seem to really have no reason to hide or not want to share their food, so they only seem mean-spirited and xenophobic, while Marcia Brown's villagers at least seem to have some legitimate reasons for fearing the soldiers, for wanting to hide their food (there might be xenophobia involved as well, but it is not a case of them only being xenophobic).
I enjoyed both versions of the tale, and I would recommend both books, but the preachiness of Heather Forest's version certainly lessened my enjoyment of the book, and I believe that this lack of subtlety also diluted the essential message of sharing and community, or at least can make a reader feel a bit like "being hit in the face by a moral." The illustrations are indeed wonderful, and I loved the little touch of there being a recipe for stone soup listed on the last page, but as far as the story itself goes, Marcia Brown's version appealed to me much more (both now as an adult, and I think it would have appealed to me more even when I was a child).
Mod
And, I tell you one thing. If I were a villager living during the Napoleonic Wars, or during the Thirty Years' War and saw a bunch of soldiers approaching my village, I would be worried as well. I mean, war is "hell" and both now, and in the past, civilians are the ones who often suffer the most. I could just scream sometimes, we have not really learned anything at all.
Well, and Marcia Brown's Stone Soup was first published in 1945, immediately after WW II. So, what you're all saying is particularly pertinent.
Mod
I never thought of that, good point.
Actually, just noticed my above post has a type: it was published in 1946 not 1945, but yes, immediately after WW II.
Mod
Mod
Lisa, I'm going to have to get the Moose/Muffin one now--especially since I saw some moose "in real life" up in Alaska last week ;->
Mod
That's so great! I'm really happy your son is sneaking peeks at these books ;->
Kathryn, Oh, you saw moose?! How cool. Yes, read If You Give a Moose a Muffin. It's my favorite of the bunch, and it's a short read so no harm done if you're not charmed.
Chandra, when I finally make it to a Dim Sum restaurant this group will be the first to know! It would be fantastic if we all really could enjoy that experience together. I thought I owned If you Give a Mouse a Cookie. I was mistaken. Kathryn, like you I am almost certain I read it. I will have to check it out at the library to remember. I own others in the series. I enjoyed all of them. I had to get If You Give a Cat a Cupcake for Kaylee. I got on a Cupcake theme with her. I had Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You an Apple Pie on hold at the library, but when my hubby went to pick it up they could not find it.=( I hope to get it before the end of the month. I am going to the library to return a book today and hopefully will find some others on this list. I am eager to read different variations of stone soup.
Gundula wrote: "I have now read both Marcia Brown's and Heather Forest's versions of the "Stone Soup" folktale, and I was surprised that I liked the former quite a bit more than the ..."I agree that Marcia Brown's version is more pleasing and effective as a tale. Your points are excellent. I enjoy using the Brown version of Stone Soup in storytimes and feel it is an effective story to share with children.
My son and I finally read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie last night. I've read it in the past on my own and with my students, but this was the first time I've read it with him. He absolutely loved it! He wanted to sleep with it! I have enjoyed all the spin-offs too, so I may have to go get all of those to share with him as well.I've also read Stone Soup. I remember reading it in kindergarten and then making stone soup in class. Looking back now, I don't think I fully understood it. My son is only 19 months old, so he's much too young for it. I have tried to read it with my students (4 year olds). They didn't understand it either. It's a longer story, so they started to get restless before the end. It's a good story though and great for those children who are a bit older.
I read If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. I hadn't read it before. I really thought I had. First of all, that little mouse was adorable in his overalls. My daughter definitely liked the book, she kept trying to kiss the mouse. Courtney, I guess our babies have the same taste in books! The flow of the book worked well and certainly is enjoyable for small children. Like Kay, I wish I could give a cookie to a mouse to clean my house...or perhaps my husband.
I am still laughing at my own last line. What I meant to say was... I wish I could give my husband a cookie to do all that cleaning. =)On a side note, since all of us in here love children's picture books, this article by Publishers Weekly could change the world of picture books forever. http://bit.ly/d1MjxK An Impassioned Plea For Picture Books
Mod
."
Haha, that's funny, Crystal! I like both interpretations ;-p
And, on a more serious note, I will surely check out that website. I cannot imagine a world without picture books!
Me neither! It is a Publishers Weekly article.
Mod
Now, I just watched the movie about a month ago so THAT version of the story was fresh in my mind. Since I didn't have any real memories of the actual book, I think I saw the book/movie correlation in a different way when I read the book. I think if I had loved the book and could, like Chandra, recite it word for word, then I would have been pretty miffed at all the liberties the movie took with the story. But, as it was, I could actually see how the movie could fit. Grandpa tells the story as kind of an overview--we don't really know how/why the food falls from the sky or why it suddenly goes crazy--so I guess the idea of the kid coming up with the machine could fit in there. It had a few similar things, like the pancake falling on the school and things going crazy in town and the townspeople having to sail away on the boats they created. BUT, I think the one thing missing in the movie is that "tall tale" sense of mystery... in Grandpa's story we DON'T know why the food falls, why it goes crazy, etc--there is so much more speculation and, if you want to look at it that way, "magic" in the story. I like that about it.
So glad you enjoyed it Kathyrn! I totally agree with you on the mystery of the book. That is what was so facinationg about it. When I watched the movie, I found myself saying "That is not like the book" several times.
Mod
Mod
BUT, oh my gosh, in terms of THIS month's theme, I felt the book couldn't be more perfect! The entire story sings with the theme "culinary DELIGHTS" ;-) I am so happy it was chosen this month so we could all read it! I think Edna and her family's enthusiasm for food is so catching, and I love that it's all about whole foods and appreciating what comes from the earth rather that from a package in a grocery store. I loved all the little rhymes and thought they were just so much fun! And, as before, when I read the author's note I was really impressed with Edna's culinary expertise and all that she accomplished. I also appreciated that there are some of Edna's recipes in the back of the book--I mean, after reading the story, didn't you want to make something yummy to eat!?!? I sure did! Alas, none of the recipes works for my current food allergy situation, but they sure look tasty. I'm curious if any of you tried the recipes!?!? I might have to look for one of Edna's cookbooks to see if I can find anything that suits me. (I did wish there was the apple pie recipe featuring molasses--I was really surprised when I came across the rhyme that the pie is sweetened with molasses--I'd never heard of that before and would be curious to try it someday!)
Crystal, I hope a copy finally turns up for you at the library--I think you will enjoy it!
Kathryn it did show up! I am happy that it did. I wasn't he most excited about the illustrations. It was the love you could feel from the family and the whole foods that brought them together that did it for me. I agree with some of the earlier comments in this discussion. I like the way the book flowed with little songs and sayings throughout it. I especially enjoyed wanting more and more to be on the farm with every page of the book. My parents have a garden and mom has an over abundance of strawberries. Last night, I was over there and she was making strawberry jam for the first time. Now I have another recipe for us to use those strawberries in! Although, I do have a question...plug a melon...anybody know what that is? I assume tapping? I will let you all know when we make the Strawberry Shortcake!Bring Me Some Apples and I'll Make You a Pie: A Story About Edna Lewis
Mod
Glad you were indeed able to get the book and that you enjoyed it, Crystal.
Mod
Mod
Mod
I want to try the "stone soup" recipe from the back of Heather Forest's version of the tale (but, it seems more of a fall or winter type soup). I'm still waiting for the Fannie Farmer book and the Edna Lewis book (they were signed out from the library), but the recipes will probably intrigue me as well. And, I would love to go out for Dim Sum (I have not been doing that ever since my friend Jean who is Chinese moved to Ottawa).
Mod
Abigail wrote: "Kathryn wrote: "I know it's not one of our group reads, but I just read Cora Cooks Pancit and now I really want to try some pancit!!! I think our group reads definitely inspired me ..."I am hoping to get to a Dim Sum restaurant in the near future. I may have to travel to Seattle to do so. I loved Cora Cooks Pancit! It will be a favorite in my home. I showed my dad and his face lit up. My dad is always worried about us kids forgetting about our heritage when he is gone. I am half Filipino. Cora Cooks Pancit has led me to other books about Filipino culture. Dad smiles every time I show him one. I am even learning. Thanks a million to this group...again! It makes me happy being here and it has brought some light to my family! And yes, I get to eat Pancit, Lumpia, Adobo, Letche Flan, Puto, and so many more goodies. My father taught my mother how to make these dishes. Seriously...delicious! Always an overabundance of food and leftovers for everyone to take home. I also learned that my father didn't actually grow up eating these foods. How naive I was to think all Filipinos ate this way. He was from the mountains and he ate mainly camote-a purple sweet potato, lots of vegetables, red rice (mountain rice), and meat occasionally. If he had white rice it was bought twice a year from the lowlands. Everything he ate was simply prepared and only salt was used. To eat the traditional Filipino food you and I know of he would do the same thing you or I would do, go to a restaurant and buy it when he visited the big city lowlands!
Mod
Abigail, so true it can give you an inaccurate idea of what people really eat. I would love it if a thread was started in the Internatinal folder. I would enjoy learning about those folktales and stories!Kathryn, your welcome and thank you all for introducing great books!
Mod
My pleasure, but really so many of you offered and voted on the selections, I don't feel I can take any credit ;-)
Mod
Stone Soup and a version by John Warren Stewig (illustrated by Margot Tomes) Stone Soup
I found them strikingly similar in terms of the events, with the largest storytelling variant being the Marcia Brown version features three hungry soldiers returning from war as the "stone soup makers" and Stewig's version features a little girl who is trying to find a way to bring food and money back to her mother's failing farm.
I think that, as has been pointed out, the townsfolk in the Brown version have a reason to fear the soldiers taking all their food. In the Sewig version it clearly states that "the people in the village were stingy." I don't have a problem with either interpretation--I think that, whether you are fearful or whether you are stingy, the message of the benefits of sharing still comes through clearly. I appreciate that neither book actually stated the "moral of the story" but allowed the reader to come to the realization through the telling of the tale. I do think kids might be better able to relate to the Stewig version as it features a little girl protagonist and I know I always loved books that feature kids as the heroes, especially when they know something the adults don't ;->
I wasn't especially drawn to the words in Brown's tale, but the illustrations certainly are captivating and lend such sense of atmosphere and charm to the tale. I have enjoyed Margot Tomes' work in the past and generally found her illustrations charming, though I was not at all pleased to see the bunnies hanging from their necks in the cellars!!! While of course this is probably historically accurate, I can imagine a lot of children being really disturbed (especially as the bunnies are cute little cottontails!) Most unfortunate!
I really appreciated reading the group's comments on Brown's version and other versions, too. I think it's so interesting how we can all have different interpretations of the stories. I wish I could have got my hands on Forest's version since it generated such a lively conversation but I wasn't able to. I also really wanted to read the Jon Muth version--I loved his "Zen" books--and it sounds like you all enjoyed his version. It sounds really interesting with a different twist on the story. I will try to find that one in the future.
Anyway, thanks to everyone for your great contributions to the discussion this month! I feel like we have a bit of a "stone soup" of our own going on here--starting with the theme and then adding all our own observations to the "pot" And what a delicious discussion we've had ;-)
Mod
http://www.webrary.org/kids/jbibfairy...
They list variations on several famous fairytales and folktales, Stone Soup among them. Some of the titles look very intriguing such as "Burgoo Stew" and "Cactus Soup" There's even "Nail Soup" which I remember one of you mentioning as the traditional tale you grew up with! How fun.
Mod
http://www.webrary.org/kids/jbibfairy...
They list variations on several famous ..."
Thanks for the link, I love looking at fairy tale variations.
Kathryn wrote: "If anyone is looking for more variations on the STONE SOUP story, be sure to check out this link:http://www.webrary.org/kids/jbibfairy...
They list variations on several famous ..."
Thank you so much!! This site will come in handy when I teach my folk tale and fairy tale unit this year. I tagged it on delicious.com
Thank you JDesetti for the website link. What a great way to discover children's books.
Well, I am a little late with my post although I did read it in June. The only version of Stone Soup I could get was Marcia Brown's. I am tickled by the fact that one story could be told in so many variations and all of them stand apart to be their own charming tale. The illustrations displayed the mood of the scenes very well. As many of you already stated, the townspeople in this story had reason to fear the soldiers. The soldiers had to come up with a clever way to convince the people they weren't there to harm them. This book has a great lesson on sharing and how much more wonderful something could be by doing so. Everyone coming together to add what little they had to make a feast fit for a king.
Mod
Children's Books
Books mentioned in this topic
The Artist Who Painted a Blue Horse (other topics)Stone Soup (other topics)
Stone Soup (other topics)
Cora Cooks Pancit (other topics)
Cora Cooks Pancit (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Marcia Brown (other topics)Heather Forest (other topics)
Marcia Brown (other topics)
Marcia Brown (other topics)
Heather Forest (other topics)
More...
