Cactus Soup

Eric Kimmel gives new life to the same old hum drum fairytales! His charecters truly come to life...my husband and I find oursleves reading with crazy new voices we didn't realize we had. My children love that they recognize the story, but that it also has a new twist. Big faves at our house include Cactus Soup (Stone soup), The Runaway Tortilla (The Gingerbread Man), and The Three Cabritos (The Three Billy Goats Gruff). These tales are fun for the adult readers, as well as the kiddoes...for Kimmels great commentary on those with a "small world-view" check out Pumpkinhead. Great tales, with great lessons!

Cactus Soup by Eric Kimmel takes the timeless tale of Stone Soup and injects a Mexican flavor. The text is arranged into short passages that are easy to read and follow. The Spanish language that is native to the characters in the story is woven into the story. The Spanish is presented in a way that is easy to identify the meaning. For readers who still struggle with the meaning of the words, they can flip to the back of the book and find a glossary. Kimmel has written his book in a way that has readers eager to flip the page. First he presents a problem, such as a hungry army coming to town who will eat all the food, and then he has the townspeople solve the problem. For every problem that is presented, the reader is anxious to flip the page and see the solution. The beautiful illustrations by Phil Huling capture the feel of the Mexican Revolution time period. Huling uses reds, yellows, and greens to portray the vivid colors common to the Mexican culture. While the pictures exaggerate the actions taking place in the story, they still follow the plot line and allow the reader to get a comprehensive view of the book. Since Cactus Soup is a variation of Stone Soup, the characters are predictable, yet still likeable. The mayor looks out for the needs of his people. He takes a misguided, yet authoritarian approach in his attempt to do this. The townspeople first follow the directions of their leader and then later enthusiastically help the captain of the army make the cactus soup. The captain solves the problem of no food, without asking the townspeople for food they claim not to have. He craftily gets the townspeople to volunteer food in an attempt to improve the taste of the cactus soup. He teaches the townspeople (and readers) the valuable lessons of sharing and working together for a common purpose.

Cactus Soup tells the story of a town that doesn't want to share its food with a small approaching army. But in the end, the captain gets the whole town to "make" his famous cactus soup. I like the quote, "Why ask for what you don't have?" You'll feel like eating Mexican after reading this book! I especially like the "stretched" illustrated characters. Muy bien!