e-Book Black Notice (Large Print) download

Who wouldn't be interested in a bagpiping Cat, a Squirrel with a banjo, and a small singing Duck, especially when they are of Helen Cooper's creation? I have recommended this book to many of my friends and family, and now I will shout it even further: "You MUST read this book!"

The illustrations themselves are enough to make this book stand out, so discovering the deliciousness of Cooper's text further solidified this on my list of favorites. After all, this is about "Pumpkin Soup. The best you ever tasted." It is made by these three adorable creatures whose individual tasks are meticulously divided between themselves. All goes smoothly, until Duck decides to break the mold. He thinks stirring the soup would be more interesting than adding his pipkin of salt. It seems a simple enough change, yet leads to quite the kerfuffle!

This story is so creatively crafted in both text and illustration that there's abundant enjoyment to be found even on a superficial level. There is a deeper message, however, that is just as beautiful. Though Duck's curious and adventuresome spirit can grate on his friends' resistance to change, each discovers the value of their friendship and their need to look outside themselves in order to maintain it. Don't we all need that reminder at times?

In the end, Duck lives his dream of stirring the soup and even though it is the messiest soup ever made in that quaint home, his friends do not breathe a word of disagreement. All peace is restored . . . until Duck decides that playing bagpipes would be more interesting than singing!

Recommended for ages three to eight.

I read this book to my prekindergarten class and they enjoyed the story. They especially liked discussing the animals and their contributions to making the soup. They acted out the story ideas during playtime in the classroom by assigning animal parts to each other and pretending to make pumpkin soup. I was a bit surprised by how much they liked it! I would recommend it to 4-5 year old children.

This is exactly the book I was looking for. Something with gorgeous fall colors & fairtale-like imagery. Fun for kids, my daughter loves it. My only note would be I loved if it was in hardcover so it could last longer because we will love this for a long time! The cover is more sturdy than a paperback, but Hardcover would have been even better.

I bought this book because my granddaughter loves cats and there aren't that many cat books for toddlers. This one had a unique story idea, which completed my purchasing decision. My granddaughter and her older brother love the bood and talk about it quite often as one of their favorites.

My 2.5 Year old twin girls LOVE this book! They think the animals are so silly especially when the duck spills the soup everywhere. The illustrations are adorable and the paperback version is more durable than your average paperback children's book. All of these things make it a clear winner in our house!

Grandmum was a children's librarian and always finds the great books for my daughter.

This is a sweet little book that has become my daughters favorite(she is 4). She found it funny that a cat, a squirrel and a duck would live together, play music, and make soup.

Each has a part to their events as each plays a certain instrument, and each has a certain part to the making of the soup.

Chaos happens when the duck decides he wants to try something different.

It of course has a happy ending.

The art is very good as my daughter likes looking at it.

A good book for bed time reading!

Best book of the season - we read this to preschoolers on field trips to our pumpkin patch - speaks to friendship, cooperations, discord and reconciliation - great vocabulary words!

My son loves this story and so do I. Though we both like A Pipkin of Pepper a little better, they are wonderful to read together. Cooper's characters come alive and are quite funny to my 3-year-old son. I really like reading Cooper's prose which is rhythmically phrased with occasional rhyme. It's also a great length for a toddler and each page has a central picture to draw his attention and (usually) complimentary pictures on the periphery.