Stone Soup

Introduction According to BJ Epstein, Senior Lecturer in Literature and Public Engagement at the University of West Anglia, “books can serve as a first introduction to the outside world” (Epstein, 2017). In other words, exposing children to different genres of books helps expand their horizon by introducing them to different types of characters that reflect today’s society. So, literature plays an important role in providing children with the knowledge they need to be successful in the real world. Evaluation
“Stone Soup” is a folktale written and illustrated by Jon J. Muth. The story takes place in a Chinese village that previously underwent famine, floods, and war. Together three monks attempt to show
Although I believe the theme is it’s easy to trick people into getting what you want. I think this theme overpowers the story because the beginning of the book states that the village of Chelm is filled with fools. So, when the poor old man arrives asking for food and the villagers shoo him onto the next town, he comes up with a clever plan of making Stone Soup. He does this by insulting the people of Chelm saying things like “here in Chelm, have you heard of garlic” and the people respond by saying “You think were fools? Of course we’ve heard of garlic”. I don’t think this theme is necessary to point out to kids because they get the message that tricking people is ok and it’s not a nice thing to do. This book does not avoid moralizing because it associates the people of Chelm as fools in the beginning and proves them to be fools as the old man tricks them into sharing their food to create a
Muth, I believe the monks are the main characters. The personal values of the monks seem to be happiness, sharing, and collaboration. At the beginning of the text Siew asks “what makes one happy” and Siew shows him this by visiting the village. The monks obviously believed in sharing because they didn’t bring anything to prepare their stone soup with, and they believed in working together because they all helped create the soup. The societal values of the villagers seem to be selfish, unwelcoming, and curious. Muth writes, “the villagers worked hard, but only for themselves” (Muth, 2003). Also, despite the fact that the villagers hid in their homes and didn’t open up for the monks they all peeked out their windows to see what they were up