The Whole World Inside Nan's Soup

by Hunter Liguore, Vikki Zhang (Illustrator)

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781953458063
Publisher:	Yeehoo Press
Publication date:	08/24/2021
Pages:	32
Sales rank:	414,185
Product dimensions:	10.80(w) x 10.70(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD540L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Hunter Liguore is a gentle advocate for living in harmony with the natural world and with one another. An award-winning author, professor, and historian, when you support her work, you’re partaking in an equal exchange that supports compassion and peace in the world. When not making soup, she is often roaming old ruins, hillsides, and cemeteries.

Vikki Zhang is an illustrator and fashion designer of over 50 books and numerous films, toys, fashion, and advertising. She is the winner of The 63rd Society of illustrators NYC (book category), and The 16th CACC Best Illustration. She held her solo exhibitions in Shanghai, Beijing, and Guangzhou. 

Editorial Reviews

05/24/2021

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. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

A lovely portrait of how interconnected everything is. -Booklist

Contemporary themes of radical transparency and appreciating interconnectedness will ring true for a modern audience. -Publishers Weekly

Zhang illustrates a detailed, whimsical watercolor world with much to pore over. -Publishers Weekly

A true worldwide journey, ending in the most irresistible message of all. -Tony Abbott, Secrets of Droon

Imaginative rumination on the true meaning of farm to table. -Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2021-06-16
A grandmother dishes up a potful of surprising ingredients and traces the origin of a family recipe.

When a child asks Nanni what is inside the big pot on the stove, Nanni’s unexpected response—“Seeds”—inspires a deep dive into the lengthy process through which plant-based food is cultivated and distributed to modern consumers. As Nanni describes the vital roles of gardeners, soil and rain, natural light, and bees, the child envisions wondrous scenes with touches of magic, like an anthropomorphized theatrical cast of sun, moon, and stars, or a world that includes fantastical creatures living alongside humans. The colorful spreads are jam-packed with details, including Nanni’s rustic kitchen, harvesting in the fields, and a cityscape bustling with traffic. The idea that all of these elements are found in the pot may pose a challenge for mature readers to explain to their youngsters the figurative speech and abstract thinking underlying the narrative. Likewise, the romanticized portrayal of farm workers feels ironic given the evidently industrialized food system transporting vegetables via “delivery trucks, boats, and trains.” Such inconsistencies aside, this story celebrates cooking with love, the essential ingredient binding the generations of this family through a single special recipe, while drawing attention to the abundant—all too often invisible—labor in food production. Nanni and her grandchild are of Chinese descent.

Philosophically rendered; requires guided reading, patience, and imaginative rumination on the true meaning of farm to table. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews