Soup for One

PreS-Gr 1—This counting book begins with a single fly in some soup. He is joined by a second one and a third until the bowl is brimming with 10 flies. Suddenly the chef, a large lizard, arrives and eats up most of the soup. The bugs flee, but the chef chases them, hoping to have them for dessert. As soon as they leave, a sneaky spider emerges and enjoys "soup for one." The humorous text is brief, with only one rhyming couplet per page. Each verse ends with a number, so the rhymes are fairly predictable, like, "Oh, good heavens!/Not soup for seven!" The vocabulary is simple enough for beginning readers, and the novel premise and charming illustrations will keep youngsters engaged. The large text is printed on full-color illustrations. Long's bugs are drawn with simple lines, big round eyes, and lots of personality. The artist uses a clever combination of photo images and digital drawings to create the backgrounds, so the soup spoon and saltine cracker look realistic, while the flies look like cartoons, heightening the humor by the contrast. The simple rhymes and engaging illustrations make this a good pick for those looking for a fresh concept book.—Donna Cardon, Provo City Library, UT