Judy Blume: Soupy Saturdays

By JULIETTE ROSSANT If you haven't met the Pain and the Great One in Judy Blume's picture book, The Pain and The Great One, grab her new chapter book, Soupy Saturdays with the Pain & the Great One (Delacorte Press 2007) and find a kid to read it with. It will make them laugh, and you laugh, and you'll find yourself hoping that Judy Blume write another chapter book soon (three more are promised following the brother and sister duo). Even if you don't have a brother or a sister, she captures the difference between what you say and what you mean. James Stevenson, The New Yorker cartoonist who gets facial expressions down with a few strokes, illustrated the book. It is about a series of Saturday adventures in the lives of "the Pain" (AKA Jake, age 6) and "the Great One" (Abigail, a whopping 8). The book starts with each introducing the other, and explaining their nicknames and pondering why their parents like the other sibling better. Then they tell alternate chapters -- boys will like Jake's stories about his sister's failings, and girls will enjoy Abigail's about her obnoxious brother. The Great One tells the first chapter about Mr. Soupy, who happens to be the barber. The Great One wears earmuffs to the barber to protect himself, something quite obvious if you think about it. Mr. Soupy manages to cut the Pain's hair with Abigail's help. And the food? Besides Mr. Soupy's great name, it turns out there is a bit of food in each chapter. The Pain will only eat white food. Besides, I was busy hiding my peas in my mashed potatoes. Why would Mom put peas on my plate when she knows I only eat white food? (p.24) The all-white food theme continues throughout the book. The Great One has a sleepover half-birthday party with a pink cake, but of course, the Pain succeeds in ruining it because he gets sick. In the end, he does save the day and manages to eat (white) vanilla ice cream. Soupy Saturdays turns out to be a perfect name for the book, since the kids' mother actually makes soup every Saturday. At the end of the book, the Pain tries to get even: My sister thinks she's so great but this time when she called me a pain I laughed. I laughed and then I said, "And you're such a... such a..." And she said, "Such a what?" And I said, "Such a big bowl of soup!" And she said, "Everyone likes soup." And I said, "Not spider soup. And that's what you are. You're a big bowl of spider soup!" Then she said, "Mmm... sounds yummy."(pp. 103-104) There is a terrific illustration of spider soup. Previous articles: [Kid's Cookbooks - complete] Technorati Tags: superchefblog, Juliette Rossant, super chef, celebrities, chefs, food, restaurants, cooking, branding, cuisine, blogging, food blogging --> back to Super Chef