15104—李苑鹏
<mean soup> by Betsy Everitt
About the story:
Horace has had a bad day--including getting stepped on by a show-and-tell cow and riding home with Miss Pearl, who nearly kills three poodles on the way.
He feels mean, so his sympathetic mother suggests that they make soup. She salts a pot of boiling water and then they take turns screaming into it and sticking their tongues out at it. Horace also bangs a spoon on the side of the pot while it boils on the stove (an unsafe practice) and, in a jarring departure from realism, he breathes ``his best dragon breath,'' at which point flames emerge from his mouth.
At last Horace smiles. The text is appropriately simple and direct. The stylized gouache paintings are large and clear enough for group sharing. They are boldly colored, energetically composed, and sometimes offbeat and silly. The final scene depicts Horace and his mother ``stirring away the bad day,'' but their backs are to the readers, which unfortunately lessens the emotional impact.Horace feels really mean at the end of a bad day, until he helps his mother make Mean Soup. the recipe is as follows: (1) clever text spiced with one or two outrageous bits; (2) a grand message about getting out anger instead of locking it inside; and (3) exciting artwork as full of life as the story."--"Booklist"
The world would be a better place if we all made a batch of Mean Soup when we've had a bad day!!!
I love this book! It's suited for young children, not toddlers. I love the message that it's good to get your bad feelings out and you'll feel better for it. I especially appreciate the whimsy of the illustrations.
