Parents' Guide to

Bone Soup

By Patricia Tauzer, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 4+

Ghoulish Stone Soup is more fun than scary.

Bone Soup Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this book.

Community Reviews

There aren't any parent reviews yet. Be the first to review this title.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say: Not yet rated
Kids say: Not yet rated

An eerie ghoulish skeleton about to slurp up an eyeball from a bubbling cauldron of bone soup is enough to capture any kid's interest. And that's only the cover. The story inside is a twist on the Stone Soup tale filled out with witches, werewolves, mummies, bats, and zombies that will simply take that interest and build on it to the end. Complete with its own recipe for Bone Soup -- advertised as a ghoulish goulash -- this is Halloween fun kids and their parents will enjoy.

Originally a French tale, the Stone Soup version retold by Marcia Brown won the 1947 Caldecott Award. This story has been a favorite for years and has been told in many ways, adapted to various times and places. Evans' retelling, with a bone not a stone and monsters rather than townspeople, is entertaining and a perfect Halloween tale for the younger set.

Book Details

Did we miss something on diversity?

Research shows a connection between kids' healthy self-esteem and positive portrayals in media. That's why we've added a new "Diverse Representations" section to our reviews that will be rolling out on an ongoing basis. You can help us help kids by suggesting a diversity update.

Common Sense Media's unbiased ratings are created by expert reviewers and aren't influenced by the product's creators or by any of our funders, affiliates, or partners.

See how we rate