Soup's On! by Sue

Fall is here and it’s time to start making that cold-weather standby for mealtime: soup!  We have many books about soup in the children’s area.  Some of the fiction titles include a recipe you may wish to try.  Included in the Juvenile area are:

·            Maybelle in the Soup by Katie Speck.  Maybelle is a lovely, plump cockroach. She lives in her own cozy little home under the refrigerator of Mr. and Mrs. Peabody. Maybelle knows it's best to stay hidden away, but she simply adores food. Just once she would love to taste something yummy before it hits the floor! When the Peabodys invite a Very Important Guest for dinner, Maybelle can't resist the soup. She takes a teeny taste-and splashes into the biggest adventure of her life!  

·            Sharon Creech’s Granny Torrelli Makes Soup reveals that Granny Torelli seems to know just how to make things right again – with her interesting stories and family recipes.  It’s easier to remember what’s important about love, life, and friendship while Granny Torelli makes soup. 

·            Emeril's There's a Chef in My Soup! What's better than eating really good food? Making it! And now, Chef Emeril Lagasse shows you how to do it, step-by-step. Hate getting up in the morning? Not with Emeril's Favorite French Toast for breakfast! Want to make all your friends happy when you open your lunchbox? Then bring enough Cheesy Star Snacks for everyone. Your turn to make dinner? Junior's Jambalaya will make everybody happy-happy. 

·            Blue Moon Soup: a family cookbook by Gary Goss proves even beginning cooks can create scrumptious soups. The 30 basic recipes in this collection are easy-to-follow and chosen to appeal to every member of the family. Color illustrations throughout.

In the Easy section of the children’s department, look for:

·            Chicken Soup by Jean van Leeuwen.  What happens when a little chicken learns that Mrs. Farmer is making chicken soup? Young readers can find out, in this offbeat picture book of barnyard misunderstandings created by a mother-and-son team.  

·            Jill Esbaum's breezy first children's book, Stink Soup, introduces a pair of siblings who, spending a week at Granny's, are given two very different missions. Likeable narrator Annabelle is charged with keeping her younger brother out of trouble  and helping her grandmother put up the tomato garden, while Willie's task is a simpler one: "To play." And, while his sister sets out to wash a mountain of newly picked tomatoes, play he does, pestering the goat, lassoing chickens and climbing the windmill, antics Annabelle is powerless to prevent. After being served stewed tomatoes for dinner (not Annabelle's favorite), the girl continues to toil, helping Granny make equally detested tomato juice. In the wry conclusion, Willie misbehaves once again and scares a skunk and Annabelle is delighted with the remedy for the situation (hint: it requires every last jar of tomato juice). 

·            Souperchicken by Mary Jane Auch.  Henrietta's beak always seems to be stuck in a book. Once she reads the words Souper Soup Company on a truck, she realizes the hens are about to get in some very hot water! It's up to Henrietta to use her reading skills to save her aunties' tail feathers before they become the soup of the day. 

·            The Cat Who Liked Potato Soup by Terry Farish.   With down-home language that’s a joy to read aloud, Terry Farish tells a wry, unconventional love story about an unlikely pair of curmudgeons - brought to life in glowing illustrations by Barry Root. The cat was fond of the man’s potato soup, which made him love her a breath more, but not so’s you d notice. Dooley. 

·            Everybody Serves Soup by Norah Dooley.   It's the week before winter vacation, and it has snowed so much that Carrie has the day off from school. She wants to earn money shoveling so she can buy her mother a Christmas present. But what should she buy? As she goes from house to house, Carrie finds that everybody is making soup. Carrie's neighbors come from many places so each one is making a different kind of soup, from southern corn chowder to Japanese miso shiru. And as she collects recipes, Carrie begins to get an idea of what to give her mother. Accompanied by simple recipes, this tale is sure to please the many readers who loved Everybody Cooks Rice and Everybody Bakes Bread as well as those who are new to Carrie's delightful multicultural neighborhood.

Check out these great soup books and share them with your family – maybe over a steaming bowl of soup that you’ve just made from one of the recipes.  For more information, please call 372-3633 Ext. 116/108 or email the children’s department at childrensreference@stillwater.org.