One of the villagers becomes curious and asks what they are doing. Then the travelers go to a stream and fill the pot with water, drop a large stone in it, and place it over a fire. Upon their arrival, the villagers are unwilling to share any of their food stores with the very hungry travelers. I believe there are a plethora of lesson plans possible with this one story.Some travelers come to a village, carrying nothing more than an empty cooking pot. The most obvious lesson would be talking about our behavior: honesty, friendship, cooperation. We can also have a social studies lesson by identifying which war has happened and identify on a map what part of the world that it has taken place in. For Language arts we can identify what letter each ingredient begins with. That instantly becomes a math problem of nine minus three. For instance she talks about someone getting three heads of cabbage but they actually brought out nine heads. The children can count the different ingredients as they come out of their hiding places. I would begin by taking advantage of the wonderful illustrations that she has made. Well placed angulation and lines are evenly spaced across an entire page allowing the reader to feel like they are participating in putting this feast together! There are so many activities that can be added to this story. Marcia Brown has used well placed illustrations to show commotion and the emotions of the villagers that holds the reader’s attention. In many picture books, like 'The Hungry Caterpillar'' bright colors have kept young students at edge of their seats for the entire book. What a very clever way of getting stiff-necked people to cooperate! I find it interesting that such subdued colors can hold the interest of children.

The villagers become so involved with the making of the soup that by the time all is said and done, they have made a meal that is “fitting for a king”.

They tell the town’s people they will be happy to share with them but it would be so much nicer if they had this ingredient or that. They start by putting stones into a large pot of water. The cunning soldiers realize that there is more than one way to skin a cat.

However, the very resourceful soldiers do not let a few greedy townies keep them from a much deserved meal that is 'fit for a king'. As the weary, war-torn villagers see them approaching, they make a concerted effort to conceal all of their food by hiding it in the most unlikely places. Through wonderful literation and well placed illustrations Marcia Brown has taken the old fable, 'Stone Soup' and turned into a feast for all to enjoy! The story begins with three very hungry soldiers marching home from war.

Stone soup brown