With the time change, it’s getting dark by 5:00 pm here in Boston. The nights are longer and colder, and it feels like we should all be in bed earlier, and for a longer period of time. Yet, this is also a cozy time.
The oven now calls out to me to bake treats like lemon cake and ginger cookies to eat with tea in the late afternoon. And the stove bubbles with stews and soups. It’s my favorite part of winter.
How about you? Are you enjoying the change of seasons where you live? Do you have a favorite soup recipe that you make during this time of year? Thanks for sharing!
11 Children’s Books Celebrating Soup
Soup Day by Melissa Iwai
This is the epitome of a cozy winter day spent with family. A young girl and her mother are going to make a special meal that is perfect for a cold and snowy day. First, they shop for vegetables and then they go home to make the soup together. It’s a time of family bonding and when it’s time to eat, everyone enjoys their soup made with love. [picture book, ages 2 and up]
The Most Delicious Soup and Other Stories by Mariana Ruiz Johnson, translated by Rosalind Harvey
In the charming village of Villa Verde, animal neighbors have the most delightful small adventures told in a graphic novel format. The final story is a kind of “soup from a stone” communal soup-making party. It is the perfect ending to these quirky fun stories. [graphic novel picture book, ages 3 and up]
Stone Soup by Jon J. Muth
Soup is incredibly bonding. For a village that has suffered from war and famine, the people have lost their faith in mankind. Three monks cajole the villagers into contributing something to the pot of stones. With each new addition, the soup gets more delicious. Sharing the soup together makes everyone remember better times. Sharing makes everyone richer and happier. The recipe for the soup from a stone is included. Just kidding! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Mouse Soup by Arnold Lobel
A mouse is caught by a weasel and, in order to avoid being dinner, tells four short stories. Can the mouse avoid being mouse soup? This classic from Arnold Lobel has stood the test of time. [easy reader, ages 6 and up]
Chicken Soup and Rice by Maurice Sendak
My oldest child’s first-grade teacher used the oversized format to teach the kids a song and dance routine. It also helped them learn the months of the year. I love how cozy this picture book makes you feel! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Duck Soup by Jackie Urbanovic
Max the duck is cooking a special soup. It is going to be his masterpiece but it needs just one more ingredient to make it perfect. When he goes to the garden to get it, his friends come by and see a single feather floating in a huge pot of soup. Max is missing. Is he in that pot of soup? The hilarious ending will make everyone appreciate soup and the fact that it is not a soup made by Max the Duck! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Whole World Inside Nan’s Soup by Hunter Liguore, illustrated by Vikki Zhang
A delicious pot of soup is more than the sum of its parts. It’s more than the ingredients lovingly cut up. It’s the sun, and the rain, and the dirt and the seeds, and the bees. It’s also all the hands that touched the ingredients including the farmworkers, the delivery man, and more. Finally, a pot of soup is love, passed down through the generations via a recipe. Soup is much more than a nourishing, warming meal. It’s the world in a bowl. [picture book, ages 4 and up]
The Ugly Vegetables by Grace Lin
The Asian vegetables in a little girl’s garden are different from all the other gardens on the street. Her mother says that their garden is better than flowers but the little girl isn’t so sure. Their garden needs more water, has sprouts that look like grass instead of leaves, and doesn’t smell sweet. The bees and butterflies are attracted to the neighbors’ gardens and the little girl thinks that her garden is full of ugly Chinese vegetables. But when it comes time to harvest her garden, her mother turns the vegetables into a delicious soup that attracts the neighbors to their house. There’s enough for everyone and next year when it’s time to plant the garden, everyone on her street plants some ugly vegetables with their flowers. The recipe for ugly vegetable soup is in the back! [picture book, ages 4 and up]
Want to learn how to say the names of the Chinese vegetables? Grace Lin teaches you how here!
Asian Vegetable chart from Hip Domestic
Magic Ramen: The Story of Momofuku Ando by Andrea Wang, illustrated by Kana Urbanowicz
Momofuku Ando created ramen during post-WWII Japan as a way to help feed people standing in long lines for a bowl of ramen. His invention was cheap, fast, and delicious and has now found its way in supermarkets and pantries around the world. This is the true story of how he created instant ramen and cup noodles. [picture book biography, ages 4 and up]
Granny Torrelli Makes Soup by Sharon Creech
12-year-old Rosie has grown up with her best friend Bailey. He’s been seeing impaired since birth, and Rosie always wants to help, even if it isn’t appropriate. But it’s not all one-sided. When Rosie is bullied by mean girls who hit her with books, Bailey comes to her rescue. Rosie has been working on a secret for a year, learning Braille to surprise Bailey. When he isn’t pleased, Rosie is hurt and angry. With homemade soup that she makes with her grandmother, Rosie fixes the temporary rift with Bailey.
Now there is an issue with a new girl who also wants to learn Braille to impress handsome Bailey. Granny Torrelli is the ultimate wise Italian grandmother, nonna, who knows that good food and storytelling will fix all ills. Granny Torrelli has had a similar experience, and she tells her own story as she, Rosie, and Bailey make pasta and sauce from scratch together. It’s a multi-day endeavor and by the end, the pasta party has set things right. In fact, the experience has made Rosie a little wiser and her world a little bigger. This book reads as easily and pleasantly as sitting down to the warmth and love of a homemade Italian dinner that only a grandmother could make. [middle grade, ages 8 and up]
A Single Shard by Linda Sue Park
When Tree-ear lives with Crane-Man under a bridge, they eat thin soup created from whatever they were able to scavenge. Some days they are lucky and are able to get a small amount of rice. Though Tree-ear suffered from food insecurity, he has warm memories of these days being cared for by Crane-Man and the meals that they shared.[middle grade, ages 8 and up]
p.s. Related posts:
17 Wonderful Multicultural Picture Books About Food
14 Asian American Picture Books About Food
Top 8 Picture Books Featuring Anthropomorphic Foods & GIVEAWAY!
Fabulous Food Truck Children’s Books
Top 10 Books to Help Kids Understand Food Insecurity
Discovering Korea for Kids with Kids’ Books, Art and Food
Asian Culture and KidLit series: Nissin Foods Connection
Cooking For Kids: Books To Promote A Love Of Food
Feeding Kids’ Imaginations with Food as Art
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Food for the Future: Sustainable Farms Around the World
- Junior Library Guild Gold selection
- Selected as one of 100 Outstanding Picture Books of 2023 by dPICTUS and featured at the Bologna Children’s Book Fair
- Starred review from School Library Journal
- Chicago Library’s Best of the Best
- 2023 INDIES Book of the Year Awards Finalist
- Green Earth Book Award longlist
- Imagination Soup’s 35 Best Nonfiction Books of 2023 for Kids
Amazon / Barefoot Books / Signed or Inscribed by Me
Amazon / Scholastic / Signed or Inscribed by Me
A lovely way to celebrate cultures. I remember making chicken soup with my Bubbie. The farvella noodles (tiny egg pockets the size of pebbles) where my favorite part. The welcoming smells filled her home with warmth. Often we’d make matzo balls to drop in.. A time to nurture all that went before us and still welcomes us in.