Ah, soup. I’ve been re-discovering the joys of soup lately. There is nothing like those warm, steamy curlycues winding there way up to your face as your hands cradle a warm mug of flu or cold-fighting, brothy goodness.
I must not be the only one loving soup, because I found three great books which feature it in all its aromatic glory. If you’re stuck at home, attempting to do your part in slowing down the coronavirus, consider rewarding yourself with these reads and…some tasty homemade crackers! (link to recipe at the end)
The repetitive, rhythmic structure of Thank You, Omu makes it feel like a throw-back to classics like We’re Going on a Bear Hunt. I could not believe this was Oge Mora’s first children’s book! It is a sweet and soothing story of a grandmother working all day on a stew for dinner, which she excitedly says “will surely be the best I have ever had.”
But the stew’s delicious aroma wafts out of her apartment and all over the block, drawing hungry neighbors to her doorstep to drop hints that they want a share. Omu thinks surely there will be enough and it couldn’t hurt to share just one more serving.
Alas! When Omu sits down for dinner, she discovers her pot is empty. (Kids are often dismayed at this point.) But, then comes a knock at the door. It is all of Omu’s neighbors, come back with tasty dishes of their own to share a loving and delicious potluck together.
This simple and comforting story will warm your heart. And Mora’s gorgeous illustrations will bring the hypnotizing aroma of Omu’s stew straight to your nostrils.
Freedom Soup by Tami Charles, illustrated by Jacqueline Alcantara
The illustrations of this book grabbed my attention right away–the bright yellow and blue of the cover, with the little girl’s braids flying all around her (as well as salt from a shaker that has become an impromptu maraca!).
In this story, Belle’s Ti Gran is teaching her how to make “Freedom Soup”–a traditional soup made on New Year’s Day to remember and celebrate the uprising which won freedom for Haiti’s enslaved people in 1804.
The illustrations make you want to dance as you watch Ti Gran and Belle sway (just like the steamy tendrils rising from the soup pot) on each page. Ti Gran teaches Belle the history of the oppression and revolution of her people and it brings a whole new level of meaning to the soup for Belle.
I love the ending of the book. First, the scene zooms out to show us Belle’s whole family has joined the party, dancing and enjoying their tasty tradition. Then, on the final two-
page spread, we zoom out even further to see that the party is happening not just in their apartment but all across the neighborhood. Freedom Soup (and the history it represents) connects Belle to her family and her people at large.
At the back of the book you’ll find a recipe for Freedom Soup–and after this read, you will definitely want to give making it a try!
Octopus Stew by Eric Velasquez
This quirky story-within-a-story will have kids going, “Whaaaa?” in the best way.
A seemingly normal story (at first) about a boy accompanying his somewhat cranky grandma as she works on making an octopus stew for the family. Normal until some concerning blimps, blumps and kerchunks can be heard from the kitchen, that is. The giant octopus has come to life and has outgrown its pot!
Before Ramsey can get Grandma to safety, the octopus has scooped her up in his huge, lumbering tentacles. At the peak moment of Ramsey’s heroism, the story is interrupted, by a roomful of his family (including Grandma herself), all listening, rapt, to his story. We realize that the whole book has been a yarn Ramsey is weaving all along. (I read this book with several different kids recently and their minds were blown by this concept. It required several more reads to sort out.)
At this point, it begins to make sense that the things Grandma scolded Ramsey for (having his cell-phone out, wearing a superhero cape) are the same things he uses to rescue her from the tentacled tyrant who has taken over their kitchen.
At the end, Grandma decides to make a nice salad (sin pulpo) instead and Senor Pulpo even pulls up a chair to enjoy it alongside them.
Velasquez also includes a recipe for Octopus Soup, as well as a glossary of the Spanish words and phrases used throughout the book.
If these reads leave you craving soup (which they surely will), consider making your own crackers from scratch to go along with whatever favorite soup or stew you’re going to enjoy! (I’ve recently been on a pozole kick, personally.)
If you make the crackers yourself, you can make them ANY shape you want (octopi, for example!), using cookie cutters. This is the closest I will ever come to eating octopus soup, but these guys sure make the meal much more fun. Here is the recipe I used for my first attempt at cracker-making: Homemade Saltine Crackers from “Restless Chipotle”
(And if you want your cracker octopi to have bright pinkish red hue of Velasquez’s crazy creature, just add some food coloring!)
