The Whole World Inside Nan's Soup
-
- $5.99
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
A rumination on our ability to recognize our interconnectedness with all people, that in order to eat a single meal, it takes the whole world to make it.
There’s something special bubbling in Nanni’s big metal pot. And it smells delicious! What ingredients might be inside? When Nanni lifts the lid on her soup, she reveals the whole world inside: from the seeds that grew into vegetables, to the gardeners who lovingly tended to the plants, to the sun, moon, and stars that shone its light above them. And, of course, no meal is complete without a recipe passed down generations of family, topped and finished with Nanni’s love.
In this tender tale by award-winning author Hunter Liguore and artist Vikki Zhang, readers will marvel at how a community and world can come together to put on an unforgettable meal between a granddaughter and her Nanni.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
As Nanni, an older bespectacled woman, stirs "a big metal pot" on the stove, her implied-Chinese granddaughter questions what's inside, prompting Nanni to reveal all the labor that went into the soup she's making. Simply worded, frequently lengthy paragraphs by Liguore detail each element of the process, from the seeds, to the people who harvest and transport: "I also see the merchants who greet the trucks, boats, and trains." Melding the sensibilities of art nouveau with Asian nature paintings, Zhang illustrates a detailed, whimsical watercolor world with much to pore over as anthropomorphic animals and celestial bodies walk among humans of varying skin tones. Dense passages and formal language give this picture book a slightly dated feel, but contemporary themes of radical transparency and appreciating interconnectedness will ring true for a modern audience. Ages up to 8.
