Three soldiers came marching down the road towards a French village. The peasants, seeing them coming, suddenly became very busy, for soldiers are often hungry. So all the food was hidden under mattresses or in barns. There followed a battle of wits, with the soldiers equal to the occasion. Stone soup? Why, of course, they could make a wonderful soup of stones...but, of course, one must add a carrot or two...some meat...so it went.

Marcia Brown has made of this old tale a carnival of activity, dancing, and laughter. Children who have once heard the story will turn to this book again and again, retelling the story for themselves. Now in an eBook edition!

Peter Merchant