Stone Soup

Winner of Parents' Choice Award & Bank Street College: Best Children's Books of the Year

Two hungry travelers arrive at a village expecting to find a household that will share a bit of food, as has been the custom along their journey. To their surprise, villager after villager refuses to share, each one closing the door with a bang.

As they sit to rest beside a well, one of the travelers observes that if the townspeople have no food to share, they must be "in greater need than we are." With that, the travelers demonstrate their special recipe for a magical soup, using a stone as a starter. All they need is a carrot, which a young girl volunteers. Not to be outdone, another villager contributes a potato, and the soup grows as others bring corn, celery, and other vegetables and seasonings.

In this cumulative retelling of an ancient and widely circulated legend, author Heather Forest shows us that when each person makes a small contribution, "the collective impact can be huge." Susan Gaber's paintings portray the optimism and timelessness of a story that celebrates teamwork and generosity. This story about community teaches readers the importance of sharing, generosity and vegetables!

August House Publishers offer an animated version of Stone Soup as well as free lesson plans!

Heather Forest Bio:

Heather Forest's unique minstrel style of telling stories blends her original music, folk guitar, poetry, and prose along with song and the spoken word to give her stories an uncommon warmth and charm. She has toured widely performing her repertoire of world folktales for the past thirty years to theatres, major storytelling festivals, schools and conferences throughout the world. Heather's books have received many prestigious awards including the Children's Choice Award, Parent's Choice Award, CCBC Choices, ABC Best Books for Children, Best Children's Books of the Year, Book Sense Winter Children's Picks, and the National Parenting Publication Awards (NAPPA) among others. Heather is currently working on her tenth book with August House, a collection of ancient and epic tales. Ms. Forest holds a Master's Degree in Storytelling and she is a recipient of the Circle of Excellence Award presented by the National Storytelling Network. Her many performance credits include The Smithsonian Institute, Washington, D.C., The National Storytelling Festival, The Edinburgh Festival in Scotland, Tales of Graz Festival in Austria, the Sidmouth International Festival in England and the Glistening Waters Storytelling Festival in New Zealand.

Susan Gaber Bio:

Susan began her career working at Newsday as a free-lance illustrator for ten years. Her illustration work has appeared in numerous magazines and she has won many awards for her illustrations. She has illustrated over twenty children's picture books. Whether working in muted impressionistic tones, in more vibrant colors, or in a folksy, homespun medium, Susan Gaber has built an impressive list of illustration credits, and has garnered much critical acclaim for her work. Working in watercolors, acrylics, or colored pencils, Gaber's illustrations "captivate the eye," as Barbara Elleman noted in School Library Journal. At times her artistic contributions imbue stories with a folksy feel, while others impart a lushness and vividness of tone, sometimes gaining the feel of elegant fine-art reproductions. Several years ago Susan's original paintings used to illustrate The Little Red Hen were displayed in the main branch of the New York Public Library at Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street to celebrate Children's Book Week. Her versatility is particularly well suited to mythic stories and folk tales such as The Baker's Dozen or Stone Soup, both written by Heather Forest. Susan currently lives with her family in Huntington, New York.