Stone Soup with Matzoh Balls: A Passover Tale in Chelm - Hardcover

Glaser, Linda

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0807576204 ISBN 13: 9780807576205

Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company, 2014

Synopsis

An old man walks into the town of Chelm asking for food. The townspeople claim they have nothing to share, but the man explains that he can make enough food for everyone with just a stone. The townspeople are intrigued and watch the man as he creates a pot of delicious matzoh ball soup. As he begins to cook, he asks for one ingredient and then another, which the townspeople provide. In the end, they have unknowingly contributed to making a Seder feast for all to share!

About this title

About the Authors

Award-winning author Linda Glaser is the author of many books for children including Hoppy Hanukkah! and Mrs. Greenberg's Messy Hanukkah. She lives in Duluth, Minnesota. www.lindaglaserauthor.com

Maryam Tabatabaei is the illustrator of several books for children including How to Spend a Day with Your Dinosaur and The Missing Toy. She lives with her family in Tehran, Iran. www.maryamtabatabaei.yolasite.com

From the Back Cover

A stranger arrives in Chelm looking for food. The townspeople are poor and don't have anything to share but a stranger amazes them by making matzo ball soup out of a stone!

Reviews

PreS-Gr 2—The familiar story of stone soup gets a Passover twist (and a little Chelm magic) in this charming retelling. A stranger appears in Chelm just before sundown on the first night of Passover. The villagers are unwilling to invite him to the seder because they have barely enough for themselves. From here, the traditional folktale unfolds, with the stranger producing a stone in a pot of water and the townspeople supplying the ingredients that transform it into a hearty soup. This soup, in fact, features the lightest, fluffiest matzoh balls in the world. When the time comes to begin the seder, the stranger is welcomed into the synagogue, and all of the inhabitants of the village fill their bellies with his "magical" soup. The Passover message of "let all who are hungry come and eat" is well illustrated in this tale. The text lends itself to reading aloud, and the muted palette of the illustrations extend the story well. A good selection for folktale and holiday collections.—Martha Link Yesowitch, Charlotte Mecklenburg Library, NC

Glaser (Hannah’s Way, 2012) gives this traditional folktale a Jewish setting: the legendary village of Chelm. When a hungry stranger arrives during Passover, everyone refuses him food despite the promise of the holiday: “All who are hungry come and eat.” The man claims he can make matzoh ball soup from a stone; thanks to the intrigued townspeople, he succeeds, one donated ingredient at a time, in producing a hearty repast featuring vegetables, chicken, seasonings, and matzoh balls. Tabatabaei’s round-faced peasants dress in traditional Eastern European garb, and foregrounded characters appear in sharp focus, while backgrounds tend to blur, much like an animated film. Appended with notes about Passover, Chelm, and the origins of this story, this makes a welcome addition to other variants of this tale, including Aubrey Davis’ Bone Button Borscht (1997) and Ingrid Schubert’s Hammer Soup (2004). Preschool-Grade 2. --Kay Weisman

Edition details

• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
• Publication date: 2014
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0807576204
• ISBN 13: 9780807576205
• Binding: Hardcover
• Illustrator: Tabatabaei Maryam
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 32