Fox Tale Soup - Hardcover

Tony Bonning was born in Scotland and has worked as a writer, journalist, and advertising manager. He is currently writing full-time, occasionally for local magazines and newspapers. He lives in Galloway, Scotland.

Scottish author Bonning and Hobson (Three Bugs Full) don't change the recipe for the folktale "Stone Soup," but they do serve up a satisfying retelling. Down a dust-brown country road comes a brick-red fox, toting a blue backpack. He stops next to a wall of smooth, round stones, and calls to some farm animals, "Can you spare a little food for a hungry traveler?" When they refuse, the fox empties his backpack which contains only an iron-gray pot and "Sheep, who was slightly kinder than the others," gets some water. As the curious animals watch, Fox selects a rock for his soup, then graciously requests a pinch of this and that. As Bonning succinctly describes the sequence, Hobson focuses on each animal's role. Donkey brings a carrot by the greens, and Goat leans forward so that Fox may lift a cabbage off his horn; in the end, all the animals crowd in a semicircle around the bubbling soup, which Fox shares. The illustrator models curved, dense shapes on an opaque field of leafy green, and her full-bleed spreads harmonize with the calm, concise writing. Fox exchanges a smile with his cooperative friends as he takes his leave, confirming the peaceful sense of balance in this time-tested trickster story. Ages 4-8.

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