ABOUT KIDS' BOOKS
By Kelly pomeroy


Vol. 2, No. 1; Sep.-Dec., 2001
(click on pictures for ordering info)
When he had done this, the man was amazed to discover that his house was no longer small.  With all the animals gone, it seemed remarkably bigger and quieter.

The moral for the second-graders I read this to?  You shouldn't bring animals into your house.
One thing I should have researched while reading to the kids was at what age they become able to distinguish the moral of a story.  The lower elementary kids certainly can't--which is interesting, since so many of the stories have morals.  Here's one example:
A BIG, QUIET HOUSE, retold by Heather Forest; ill. by Susan Greenstein.  August House LittleFolk, 1996.  Ages 4 to 8.
This is a Yiddish folktale from Eastern Europe, about a man who was miserable because he felt his house was too small.  It seemed cluttered, and the nightly noise of his wife snoring and his children giggling were driving him crazy.  In desperation, he got out of bed in the middle of the night and went to consult the wise old woman on the edge of town, whom he roused from her own bed.
The old woman advised the man to take a big red chicken into his house with him.  He did this, and the uproar that ensued as the chicken pecked the children and was chased around the house, squawking and flapping, by the wife, sent him running back to the wise old woman.


This time she told him to take a goat, a horse, a cow and a sheep into his house.  Need- less to say, he was a bit startled by this advice, but he figured she knew best, so he did as he was told.  Not surprisingly, the results were disastrous and the man went running back to the old woman's house to rouse her yet again.  Now she advised him to put all the animals back where they belonged.
And so it goes, as each bystander thinks of some small contribution to make to the soup.  Soon the pot is full and simmering, and a wonderful smell drifts through the air.  People bring out tables and chairs, bowls and spoons, as well as loaves of bread, chunks of cheese and bowls of fruit.  Everyone exclaims about what a  delicious soup the two strangers have made out of a stone.  "Out of a stone," they agree, "and a magical ingredient. . .sharing."
STONE SOUP, retold by Heather Forest; ill. by Susan Gaber.  August House LittleFolk, 1998.  Ages 3 to 8. 
Here's another European folktale, and the moral is equally over the heads of the kids.  It doesn't really matter if the young ones miss the point, though.  They enjoy the stories in any case, and their parents appreciate the object lessons.

This story tells of two hungry travelers who come to a village and hope to find someone who will share a little food with them.  But at every house they are turned away by villagers claiming they have no food.  Finally, they decide that all could benefit from their own magical soup.  They loudly announce that if someone will bring a big pot, they will make the most delicious soup anyone has ever tasted.
A pot is quickly produced and the two men fill it with water and build a fire under it.  As the townspeople watch, the strangers throw in a stone, announcing that they are making delicious and nutritious stone soup.  But, as one of them points out, it would taste better if only they had a carrot.  But his companion reminds him that everyone said they had no food.  They seem about to give up in discouragement when one small voice ventures: "I might have a small carrot."  The travelers are quick to accept, but mention that the soup would taste even better if they had a potato.  "I have a potato," someone says.
SITTING DOWN TO EAT, by Bill Harley; ill. by Kitty Harvill.  August House LittleFolk, 1996.  Ages 3 to 7.
This is a story, in verse, about a boy who is just sitting down to eat when he hears a knock at the door.  It's an elephant, who says "If you've got enough for one, you've got enough for two."  The boy agrees and lets her in.  The two of them are just about to begin their repast when there is another knock at the door.  It's a tiger, who says "If you've got enough for two, you've got enough for three."
This goes on until there are nine diners squeezed in.  The man in the first story above would really have to count his blessings if he had seen this!  The last caller is a tiny caterpillar--inconsequential in size, compared to the hippo, the whale and all the other guests.  But like the proverbial straw on the camel's back, or the mouse in the folktale "The Mitten", from which the author got the idea for the ending of her story, there's always a breaking point.  BOOM! goes the house.
I read this to kindergartners and they were delighted at the BOOM!
YOSHI'S FEAST by Kimiko Kajikawa; ill. by Yumi Heo.  Dorling Kindersley Publishing Co., 2000.  Ages 5 to 8.
This is the retelling of a story from Japanese folklore.  It tells of a fanmaker named Yoshi who loves boiled eels.  His neighbor, Sabu, every day catches and broils delicious eels to sell.  Being in a very out-of-the-way location, however, he has few customers.
Yoshi, being too stingy to buy eels from his neighbor, thinks Sabu should share his leftover eels with him.  But Sabu thinks the fanmaker should buy eels from him.  So Yoshi settles for sniffing the delicious-smelling eels while he eats his boiled rice.
Sabu, upset that Yoshi refuses to buy from him, angrily writes out a bill for all the broiled eels he has smelled.  Yoshi agrees this is fair, counts out the specified number of coins. . .and then dances around shaking them in his money box.  He is paying for the smell of eels with the sound of money!
In retaliation, Sabu starts cooking a fish that smells terrible.  Yoshi tries to keep the smell out of his house, but it is pervasive and it makes him sick to his stomach.  In desperation, he thinks up a solution.  He had noticed, when he was dancing and shaking his money box, that people had stopped to watch.  Now he convinces Sabu to broil some more eels, and he puts on his best kimono and gives a rousing performance, which draws an appreciative crowd.
The crowd, of course, buys Sabu's eels.  Sabu shows his gratitude by sharing his eels with his neighbor.  The two become a team, and Yoshi realizes that sniffing eels by himself is nowhere near as good as eating them with a friend.

I think this book was a little difficult for the first-graders I read it to, but they said they liked it--all except one boy, who could give no reason for not liking it.
HENNY-PENNY retold by Jan Wattenberg.  Scholastic Press, 2000.  Ages 5 to 10.  This updates an old American favorite.  "Chickabunga!" exclaims Henny-Penny when the acorn hits her on the head.  "What's clickin', chicken?" asks the rooster, and he's told to "SHAKE, RATTLE, and ROLL!"

The story doesn't end up any better than the original, but kids of all ages--including a few grown-up ones--will enjoy the hip dialog, the expressive, variable font, and the colorful photo compositions that show the growing parade of refugees fleeing past saguaro cactuses, Egyptian pyramids, the Acropolis, the leaning tower of Pisa, the Taj Mahal.  They are going to warn the king, but it isn't clear whether that's King Tut, King Kong, or Elvis.
LITTLE JOHNNY BUTTERMILK retold by Jan Wahl; ill. by Jennifer Mazzucco.  August House Publishers, 1999.  Ages 4 to 9.  I don't know why I ended up with so many retellings of old tales this time.  This one is British and it tells of a boy who helps his mother by taking buttermilk to market everyday to sell.
One day Johnny is discovered on his way to market by a witch who lives nearby.  She asks Johnny to give her his buttermilk.  When he refuses, she grabs both the milk and the boy, whom she intends to eat.  She puts him in a sack to carry, but halfway home she remembers that she has forgotten a pot she bought in town and has to go back for it.  She asks a couple of men who are cutting a hedge to guard the sack for her, but when they hear the boy calling for help, they let him out and help him to fill the sack with thorns.
When the witch gets home and discovers the switch, she is furious.  She captures him twice more, but each time he outsmarts her.  She finally gets so angry that she bursts, and Johnny and his parents live happily ever after.

Nine-year-old twins Jackie and Annie and their 5-year-old brother Josh all enjoyed this story.  They also liked the next two.

This next story shows, however, that sharing can be taken too far.