Watch Out for the Chicken Feet in Your Soup

Watch Out For Chicken Feet in Your Soup is a wonderful book by Tomie dePaola. It's about a little boy named Joey, that brings his friend, Eugen to his grandmothers house and Joeys grandmother is a, well, old fashion Itailain women. In the beginning Eugen is surprised at what stuff she does like putting their coats over the doe to make it rise high and when they had a lot to eat for supper. Then when Eugen was done Zup as Joey's grandmother calls it Joey's wasn't so, while Eugen was making bread with Joeys grandmother Joey was sitting at the table glowering. So just when Joey was done dinner Eugen and Joey's grandmother were done making the bread and putting them in the in the oven (BUMMER). Then they left with some of the bread. At the end Eugen said to Joey, Hey Joey I love your grandmother and Joey says Yeah me too. I know your thinking but he was mad at his grandmother because he didn't make bread but there is something I can't tell you that happens to make him happy but you have to buy it to know.My favorite part is when Eugen says hey Joey I love your grandmother and Joeys says yeah me to. I like it because it makes me happy that he loves his grandmother and made another person love him to (even if it's just a book). I would recommend this wonderful book to preschoolers to any one who likes picture books. But for people that can't read it's still a great book that has a good lesson in it. There are many other fabulous books by Tomie dePoala just like this and they are all just as exiciting. Thank You

One day, while looking for books to read to my son, I came across this book in our library. I almost flipped! When I was very young, my Italian grandmother always cooked the feet along with the rest of the chicken, and I thought they were great! My mom tells a wonderful story about the first time when one of her non-Italian brothers-in-law came to Sunday dinner. The expression on his face was priceless when Gram put the chicken feet on the table, especially when everyone started to fight over them! What a precious walk down memory lane...

Mr. diPaola paints an accurate and touching picture of Italian life. I saw both my Italian grandmothers, and my great aunts, and all their household furnishings in this book. I could smell the fragrances inside the house: the olive oil, the basil, the spagetti bubbling in the pot. It brought back astonishing memories (which included tasty chicken feet in the soup). For my children who never had the opportunity of experiencing the Italian side of their heritage, it allowed me to present it to them in a most heart-warming way. The welcoming warmth of the old matriarchs and their great love of family comes out strong and clear. For non-Italians, it will present to their children a look into another culture in an appealingly simple way. The book was especially meaningful to me because one of my grandmothers made a variation of the bread dolls for all her grandchildren every Easter. We modified the recipe and it became my family's tradition as well, to make and distribute them to friends and teachers around Easter. It's one of the few children's books I've kept -- and my kids are now in their 20's.

What a joy to share this book with my two sons, ages 4 and 6! The dialogue and illustrations evoke strong memories of growing up in an Italian-American household, where love was given and received around the dinner table. A house filled with treasures, a kitchen filled with warm cooking and a heart bubbling over with enthusiasm make Joey's grandma an irresistable character for Eugene, introduced to her for the first time, for Joey, whe sees her all over again with new eyes, and for my sons, who delight in her loving personality! It was a wonderful springboard for sharing family stories with my boys, and it is a story that they ask for over and over again. (Especially if you read grandma with a great BIG friendly Italian accent!) By the way, did I mention that there's a recipe for baking bread at the end of the book? My son is calling over my shoulder: "Mommy, don't forget the bread!" A whole DIFFERENT reason to enjoy this book together!

When I was seven years old, this was my most favorite book. In fact, I had read it so many times with my best friend that at one point, we had it memorized. My grandfather is Italian, but he does not like to talk about his heritage. As a child, this book gave me a connection with my family history that I did not have before. Often I have wished that I had a grandmother like the character Tony does