Chicken Soup By Heart

Like the cover illustration, this story is round and warm, like a bowl of soup. It was a very nice Sunday, in the middle of spring, in the middle of breakfast, when Rudie Dinkins heard his mama say that Rudie's after-school and sick-day sitter, Mrs. Gittel, had the flu. But Mrs. Gittel is more than the sitter, isn't she? She is Rudie's older friend. Rudie goes down the hall to Mrs. Gittel's apartment and hears 13 "a-choos" before he even knocks on her door. When he's sick, Mrs. Gittel makes him chicken soup. So, with his mother's help, Rudie, a nice boychik, cooks a batch of chicken soup using Mrs. Gittel's secret ingredient: sweet memories of their friendship! The soup requires at least three sweet stories about the person who will be consuming the soup. And soon Mrs. Gittel, the Chicken Soup Queen, is feeling good as new! (if Arthur hadn't moved so far away, maybe her son, Arthur, could have made the soup? No?) Well, Mrs Gittel is cured so well, that she feels well enough to help Rudie who has a Tummy ache later in the day. Mommy seems to be crying in one illustration: Is it cuz Rudie is so sweet that you can bottle him as medicine, or is it because she is peeling an onion for the soup? Please be sure to read the recipe aloud at the end of the book. A recipient of a Sidney Taylor Award!