Slowly, the visitors convince the villagers to each bring something, even if it is small. The story starts off with villagers who are not willing to share their food. Lastly, and perhaps the biggest reason why I love this book is for its main message: sharing.

The last ingredient in the recipe is “sharing”. For example, a phrase that repeats in the book is “Bring what you’ve got! Put it in the pot! We’re making Stone Soup.' I also loved this book because it has an extra-textual feature in the back – a recipe for making Stone Soup. The repetition helps to strengthen the reader’s knowledge of words and their ability to read the book smoothly. Another reason why I loved this book is because it is repetitive which can be used for a shared reading activity. For example, on the first page it says that the travelers wore “dusty shoes had holes in their soles.” This is a great way to keep the words of the book flowing and to have a rhythm to a traditional story like this one. One reason is because of the way the book was written.

I really enjoyed reading this story for many reasons. I think that young children would really enjoy listening to this story, but it did not particularly stand out to me. This story is from a legend, but I am not sure where it originates from. It also reminds readers to help others rather than act selfishly. This shares a really important moral with young children, as they need to be exposed to the benefits of sharing early on. However, once the soup is made and they all enjoy it together, the townspeople realize the value of sharing. The townspeople acted selfishly by not sharing and by only contributing once they realize there’s something in it for them. The travelers remind them that whatever they have to contribute is perfect, calling out over and over “bring what you’ve got, throw it in the pot.” Once the soup is made, the travelers remind everyone that the secret ingredient is sharing!

One by one, the townspeople begin contributing different ingredients to the soup. They even claim to have a magic stone to make it even more delicious. After a while, the travelers begin yelling that they can make the most delicious soup, if only they had any ingredients. Hungry travelers go door to door in a town they come across, asking people if they have any food to spare, but no one will share with them.

Stone Soup by Susan Gaber