Pistes d'exploration

Discuss the roles of monks. Why didn’t the villagers trust the monks when they arrived in their village? Besides making soup, what else could the monks have done to bring the community together?

Read other versions of the story. Which is your favourite? Why do you think this story has been told around the world? What did the villagers learn from the monks? What did you learn about community? What role do you play in your family? 

In the author’s note, we learn that the monks are named after three deities that “bestow health, wealth and prosperity.” Imagine you had the power to grant someone three wishes. Write a letter to that person explaining why you chose those wishes and how he or she could benefit from them.

How would you personally define happiness? Share your definition and add it to a class anchor chart. 

Compare how the citizens behave at the beginning of the story with how they behave at the end.

Look at several versions of this folk tale and compare them. Do they convey the same message? Are the settings similar? Do they involve the same food?

Prepare your own stone soup in the classroom, with each student bringing a different vegetable. Post the recipe on the class or school website. Enjoy it for a class lunch. 

Boy Soup, Mama Panya's Pancakes: A Village Tale From Kenya, Bone Button Borscht

Mots-clés

Folklore , China , community , cooperation , dialogue , folktales , happiness , illustrations (watercolours) , setting

Commentaire descriptif

Three wise monks journeying along a mountain road come to a small Chinese village wracked by hard times. “Famine, floods, and war” have made the people tired and suspicious of everyone. When the monks cleverly suggest making soup from mere stones, the villagers are convinced, one by one, to contribute ingredients from home until they have created a wonderful nourishing feast for themselves. This retelling of an old trickster tale relies on imagery to relay how simple acts of kindness and generosity can lead to enlightenment. Delicious garnishes and additions to the soup include dumplings, bean curd, cloud ear, mung beans, yams, baby corn and ginger root. Muted watercolour illustrations (with occasional pops of colour) evoke a moody, misty atmosphere surrounding the villagers’ daily life as they slowly undergo a transformation. Paired with the poetic text, readers will readily imagine a distant land of long ago. An author’s note at the end explains the origins and different cultural adaptations of this inspiring folk tale about community spirit and the power of working together toward a common goal.