Reading Different Children's Book Versions of Stone Soup

Why read different versions of the same story to your child?

Our almost 4 year old has begun to have a greater interest in the plot of stories and can recall characters and what has happened in a story much better than he once could. I've discovered that this makes it so much fun to read several different versions of a similar story. I particularly like doing this with classic stories because references to these tales will appear again and again in his life. Reading different versions reinforces the background knowledge he'll need to understand these references. Reading more than one version of a story can also be an interesting way to explore different cultures (for example, there are numerous versions of the Cinderella story from around the world.) Plus, it's just plain old fun to see how different authors take a story in a slightly different direction!

How our Stone Soup story project started

Dinoboy loves to yank books off the shelf at the library and see if the cover looks interesting. He grabbed Tony Ross's version of Stone Soup. The librarian, who is a friend of ours, stopped by and said how funny it was, but that it would not be what we expect. I asked her if there was a version that was closer to the classic story, and she gave me Jon Muth's Stone Soup. Once we read these, I pulled out Barefoot Books' anthology Storytime, which I knew also included a stone soup story. Finally, I found an e-book version of Marcia Brown's Stone Soup that I remember reading as a child.

Marcia Brown's Stone Soup

Stone Soup by Marcia Brown

This is the version of Stone Soup that I remember reading in school, and you might too. Three French soldiers are returning home from the war and are hungry. None of the villagers want to share a meal or lodging with them because they'll already had to give so much to other soldiers. In the town square, the soldiers announce they will just have to make stone soup. Curious villagers begin watching. As they announce which ingredients would make the soup even better, different people "remember" where they can find a few of those items. By the end of the story everyone regards the soldiers as heroes for engineering such a fine meal. They are given the best places to stay for the night in the village.

Stone Soup by Jon Muth

In this version of the story, three Buddhist monks are traveling and the youngest monk asks the oldest one "what makes one happy?" The elder monk simply replies, "Let's find out." They enter a village where famine and war have made the people wary of strangers and even of their own neighbors. No one even answers their doors when the monks knock. The oldest monk announces that to his companions that they will make stone soup as a way to teach them happiness. A little girl helps them find a large pot, and her story that the monka are making soup from stone piques others' curiosity. As the story unfolds and ingredients are added, the villagers become giving again. After their feast, they sing songs and celebrate long into the night.

"Stone Soup" found in Storytime: First Tales for Sharing by Stella Blackstone.

In Stella Blackstone's version of Stone Soup, a wolf attempts to trick a hen into trusting him by asking if he can use her kitchen to make the soup. The nervous hen offers him a pot but her curiosity is mixed with fear because of the stories she has heard about wolves. She begins suggesting ingredients to add, and the wolf's arrival soon attracts the attention of the other animals who are worried for the hen's welfare. They arrive one and a time and then contribute vegetables to the soup. They enjoy the meal together and share stories. After a long wait, the quiet wolf (who will not share his story) announces that the stone is not ready to be eaten. He asks if he can retrieve it to save it for his dinner tomorrow night. The animals ask him when he will return to eat with them again, but the wolf makes no answer as he travels off into the night. The Sorytime anthology also includes classics such as "The Gingerbread Man", "Goldilocks and the Three Bears", "The Three Little Pigs", and "The Ugly Duckling."

Stone Soup by Tony Ross

This out-of-print version of the story also features a hungry wolf and a hen. The wolf in this story is very straight forward, announcing that he is going to eat the hen and steal her goodies. The quick-thinking hen says he must first have a bowl of her famous stone soup. As the hen keeps announcing that she'll have to add another ingredient, she gives the wolf difficult chores to keep him busy, including chopping down a tree and sweeping the chimney. The wolf ends up eating so much soup that he has no room for the hen. When she invites him to go ahead and steal her goodies, the only thing he grabs before escaping is the stone from her pot.

Make a pot of stone soup

Reading stories about stone soup is likely to have your child asking for a bowl. Of course, the idea of stone soup is that you can make it from just about anything. If you prefer to follow a recipe, you can find one on The Nourishing Home blog.

Do you have a favorite version of the Stone Soup story, or if there another one I should know about? Share in the comments!

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links to my Barefoot Books Ambassador website, as well as my Amazon affiliate account. Purchasing books through these links allows me to provide you with great literacy and children's book content!