The underlying morals of sharing and community spirit are proven to be necessary for progressive thinking and union-ship of a nation.“Stone Soup,” engraving by Walter Melion for the cover of the first issue of Stone Soup Some Recipes for Stone Soup from 1732, 1808–and 2019!īoil stones in butter, and you may sip the broth. ( Fuller 1732) These are very much themes that are apparent in life today, over 60 years after the story was first published, which shows that the themes in this story are timeless.Īlthough the story is set in a village we can still draw comparisons between this rural setting and the city of London and in fact cities across the world. With the aftermath of WW2, food rations and the fear of unknown soldiers, social feeling was at an all time low. The story is set during the French revolution but having being written in 1947, it is very apparent that the story mirrors the social impacts of 1947 France. This in turn leads to the union-ship of the village and the cooperation of all involved. It is then the theme of curiosity which takes precedence drawing the whole community together in an attempt to make something out of nothing. However their curiosity takes hold when the soldiers reveal their intentions to feed the village. In the story the villagers fear the unknown believing that the soldier will steal their food and could potentially resort to violence. This is a bridge we are still trying to gap in present day London. The peasants fear the outsider, having preconceived ideas about them. The villagers reluctance to accept the soldiers represents the theme of xenophobia within a community. As the story develops so does the mindset of the peasants which is represented though the increase of red which becomes more vivid by the end. The dull colours in contrast emphasise the povety of the land and the mindset of the villagers which begins as being very fixed.

The red colour is very interesting as it hold political undertones relating to the soldiers whilst it also connoted anger and danger which is a theme also expressed through the characters’ behaviour. Firstly the colour are limited to white, grey, black and red which draws your eye towards the action in the picture. The illustrations are quite unusual for typical children’s picture books. However the soldiers use their knowledge and whit and manage to trick the unwelcoming peasants into providing a feast through preparing their ‘magical’ stone soup. The villagers are very reluctant to help these strangers and decide to hide all their food and explain that there are no beds available. Plot – This is the retelling of a traditional French tale in which 3 soldiers who are very hungry come across a village of peasants looking for food and shelter.

Stone soup brown