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Bone Soup
Known across the land for his infamous appetite, Finnigin is never seen without his eating stool, his eating spoon, and his gigantic eating mouth.
When Finnigin finds himself in a new town on Halloween, he hopes to join a great feast with the creatures who live there. But not a body or soul will share any of their food with the ever-famished Finnigin. So what’s a hungry skeleton to do? Armed only with his wits and a special ingredient, will Finnigin be able to stir up a cauldron’s worth of Halloween magic?
When Finnigin finds himself in a new town on Halloween, he hopes to join a great feast with the creatures who live there. But not a body or soul will share any of their food with the ever-famished Finnigin. So what’s a hungry skeleton to do? Armed only with his wits and a special ingredient, will Finnigin be able to stir up a cauldron’s worth of Halloween magic?
32 pages, Paperback
First published September 8, 2008
6 people are currently reading
334 people want to read
About the author
Cambria Evans
8 books8 followersCambria Evans studied graphic design at Rhode Island School of Design, and now works as a freelance illustrator, writer and designer in Brooklyn, New York. Cambria loves all things Halloween, and celebrates everyday by eating plenty of candy. She shares a studio with her husband Kari Christensen who is also an illustrator."
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews
November 1, 2016
This was cute. It had great illustrations and a good moral story line :)
August 18, 2019
This author took the original tale of Stone Soup and spun it for the "baby" horror genre. Adorable! 😍
September 29, 2009
A Halloween take on Stone Soup. A cute little skeleton with a very big appetite manages to get all sorts of ghastly ingredients from the ghouls to make his magic "bone soup". We are talking bat wings, eyeballs, toenails... EXACTLY what Campbell's was thinking when they came up with the "mmmmmmm mmmmmm good" slogan!
The artwork is great, the story is cute and not too scary.
My four year old is warped enough to enjoy the story, and I enjoyed it enough to read it to him 5 times in a row!
(By the end of the week, I will have hidden it under a couch cushion or up in the closet to preserve my sanity. Ah, you do it too, you know it!)
The artwork is great, the story is cute and not too scary.
My four year old is warped enough to enjoy the story, and I enjoyed it enough to read it to him 5 times in a row!
(By the end of the week, I will have hidden it under a couch cushion or up in the closet to preserve my sanity. Ah, you do it too, you know it!)
December 16, 2010
I've been a fan of Stone Soup since I was a little kid, so I consider myself something of a connoisseur of Stone Soups. The yummiest I've ever tasted is John J Muth's sumptuous feast of Stone Soup set in feudal China.
Bone Soup, though, is like a disappointing chocolate cake dessert. You know that big gooey multiple layer cake you order at the end of a meal? You expect it to come warm, with the chocolate oozing out of the layers and the cakieness melting on your tongue. You expect a perfectly piping coffee on the side, or an icy cold glass of white milk. But what do you get? You get a cold cake with lukewarm coffee and lukewarm milk. A straight out of the refrigerator cake that's cakieness is hard and icing is harder and is work to chew and swallow. You get lukewarm milk or lukewarm coffee that do nothing to compliment the cold cake. And you're disappointed. But you finish them because you really LOVE chocolate, no matter how cold the cake might be, and the coffee or milk still compliment the chocolate better than a beer or a water would.
Bone Soup is like that. It still tastes as it should. It hits most of the important notes. It is okay, but it isn't amazing, so my anticipation was thwarted. Bone Soup was not what I wanted and needed it to be. But if that's all that's being served, I'm sure I'll eat it again because, after all, what kid will turn down chocolate cake (unless they have a gluten allergy)? I'm sure my kids will want it for bedtime dessert again soon, and I will just have to suck it up and enjoy the cold cake the best I can (and I’ll take the milk over the coffee, thanks).
Bone Soup, though, is like a disappointing chocolate cake dessert. You know that big gooey multiple layer cake you order at the end of a meal? You expect it to come warm, with the chocolate oozing out of the layers and the cakieness melting on your tongue. You expect a perfectly piping coffee on the side, or an icy cold glass of white milk. But what do you get? You get a cold cake with lukewarm coffee and lukewarm milk. A straight out of the refrigerator cake that's cakieness is hard and icing is harder and is work to chew and swallow. You get lukewarm milk or lukewarm coffee that do nothing to compliment the cold cake. And you're disappointed. But you finish them because you really LOVE chocolate, no matter how cold the cake might be, and the coffee or milk still compliment the chocolate better than a beer or a water would.
Bone Soup is like that. It still tastes as it should. It hits most of the important notes. It is okay, but it isn't amazing, so my anticipation was thwarted. Bone Soup was not what I wanted and needed it to be. But if that's all that's being served, I'm sure I'll eat it again because, after all, what kid will turn down chocolate cake (unless they have a gluten allergy)? I'm sure my kids will want it for bedtime dessert again soon, and I will just have to suck it up and enjoy the cold cake the best I can (and I’ll take the milk over the coffee, thanks).
October 9, 2011
Most children know the story "Stone Soup", so I always tell my students that the author took "Stone Soup" and Halloween-ized it, giving us Bone Soup. Kids generally like the premise, the great monsters, the icky monster food, and the luminous illustrations.
Finnigin is known far and wide as "The Eater", and a penniless one at that. One Halloween he's traveling in a lovely barren land looking for a Halloween Feast. A witch on her broomstick sees him and races home to warn the other monsters in the village that "The Eater" is coming. All of the townscreatures (including a family of the cutest zombies ever) stash their food and lock the doors.
Poor Finnigan comes through town looking for a feast and finds nothing. He goes from door to door asking if anyone can spare "some wormy cheese and bread for a simple traveler" but he is rudely turned away every time. Luckily he's used to living by his wits, since he has no house to haunt, and he fills the town's cauldron with water and sets it to boiling. He makes a production of dropping a "magic" bone into the water and sings a song about Bone Soup.
The townscreatures are drawn by his singing and one by one are tricked into providing ingrediants for the soup. Kids love the stewed eyeballs, bats wings, frog legs, toenail clippings, and more. Finnigin then tells the assembled monsters that Bone Soup is great, but best shared. Everyone enjoys a Halloween feast of Bone Soup and the kids enjoy the picture of Finnigin about to eat an eyeball.
The illustrations are simple but fun and the colors used really make it seem like things are glowing. I also love all of the creature's glowing eyes as they stare out of dark windows to see what Finnigin will do next. It's a fun seasonal story and a good one to pick up from the library and share with your family. It's a great Halloween read but you don't need to buy it.
Finnigin is known far and wide as "The Eater", and a penniless one at that. One Halloween he's traveling in a lovely barren land looking for a Halloween Feast. A witch on her broomstick sees him and races home to warn the other monsters in the village that "The Eater" is coming. All of the townscreatures (including a family of the cutest zombies ever) stash their food and lock the doors.
Poor Finnigan comes through town looking for a feast and finds nothing. He goes from door to door asking if anyone can spare "some wormy cheese and bread for a simple traveler" but he is rudely turned away every time. Luckily he's used to living by his wits, since he has no house to haunt, and he fills the town's cauldron with water and sets it to boiling. He makes a production of dropping a "magic" bone into the water and sings a song about Bone Soup.
The townscreatures are drawn by his singing and one by one are tricked into providing ingrediants for the soup. Kids love the stewed eyeballs, bats wings, frog legs, toenail clippings, and more. Finnigin then tells the assembled monsters that Bone Soup is great, but best shared. Everyone enjoys a Halloween feast of Bone Soup and the kids enjoy the picture of Finnigin about to eat an eyeball.
The illustrations are simple but fun and the colors used really make it seem like things are glowing. I also love all of the creature's glowing eyes as they stare out of dark windows to see what Finnigin will do next. It's a fun seasonal story and a good one to pick up from the library and share with your family. It's a great Halloween read but you don't need to buy it.
November 23, 2009
Quality, detailed, engaging illustrations. A hungry little ghoul with an enormous appetite goes in search of food, but no one wants to share.
December 12, 2021
Cute and I enjoyed it but went over my 4 year olds head.
October 28, 2022
Finnigin the eater!
October 24, 2014
Entertaining and somewhat spooky Halloween-themed take on the classic story, Stone Soup. The illustrations are cartoonish and not at all scary and the narrative is fun to read aloud. It's a good book for Halloween and we enjoyed reading it together.
October 14, 2018
Bone Soup is a story about a skeleton named Finnigin who is determined to share a Halloween feast with others. Unfortunately, gossip spreads about his ravenous hunger, and the townspeople hide their food from Finnigin and refuse to help him when he comes knocking. But when Finnigin brings out his magic bone, the townspeople can't help but be curious. But will Finnigin share his soup, or will he act like the others and keep it all to himself?
The storyline is a great one for kids that really shows the importance of sharing and not jumping to conclusions. The artwork in this book is so wonderful. I really loved how interesting each of the character sketches were! Definitely another Halloween/spooky book I would highly recommend! I loved it!
The storyline is a great one for kids that really shows the importance of sharing and not jumping to conclusions. The artwork in this book is so wonderful. I really loved how interesting each of the character sketches were! Definitely another Halloween/spooky book I would highly recommend! I loved it!
October 31, 2018
This is a Halloween take of the classic Stone Soup. It is well presented.
Finnigan is a voracious eater. Everyone hides their food from him and shuts him out when he comes to town. He sets up a cauldron in the center of town, fills it with water, and stirs it with his "magic" bone.
This gets people interested. Soon, his pt is filled with all those foods the others had hidden. Finnigan gets his meal after all . . . as does everyone else.
I like this because not only does it demonstrate Finnigan's cleverness, it also shows that the towns people benefit from sharing; their meal is better because of the richness of the ingredients.
My students enjoyed this as well.
Finnigan is a voracious eater. Everyone hides their food from him and shuts him out when he comes to town. He sets up a cauldron in the center of town, fills it with water, and stirs it with his "magic" bone.
This gets people interested. Soon, his pt is filled with all those foods the others had hidden. Finnigan gets his meal after all . . . as does everyone else.
I like this because not only does it demonstrate Finnigan's cleverness, it also shows that the towns people benefit from sharing; their meal is better because of the richness of the ingredients.
My students enjoyed this as well.
March 15, 2023
Finnigan is a hungry skeleton. Assuming that you're okay with him as a main character of this child's picture book, you may enjoy learning all about his eating stool, his eating spoon, and his "gigantic eating mouth."
I can see how some children and adults might find this hilarious.
WELL...
You know the saying that goes, "One man's meat is another man's poison"?
This book wins four stars on behalf of the intended audience, meaning: all of you who might consider this adventure into soup-making a very meaty read. For me, the story wasn't quite like poison but it did turn out to be pretty forgettable.
How many books can be a perfect taste for all readers?
I can see how some children and adults might find this hilarious.
WELL...
You know the saying that goes, "One man's meat is another man's poison"?
This book wins four stars on behalf of the intended audience, meaning: all of you who might consider this adventure into soup-making a very meaty read. For me, the story wasn't quite like poison but it did turn out to be pretty forgettable.
How many books can be a perfect taste for all readers?
November 8, 2021
This retelling of STONE SOUP, where a community comes together to create something delicious from nearly nothing, is perfect for Halloween. In place of the stone, 3 witches have found a small bone. Soon, the town’s monsters, ghosts, vampires, mummies and more are contributing their own little something to the stew. Recipe for a Halloween like bone soup at the end.
July 6, 2023
This will be quite a fun addition to my collection of Stone Soup stories! There are adorable characters who are selfish to start, but end up helping with ingredients to make soup fit for a king!
My Halloween story collections need this addition, for sure!
My Halloween story collections need this addition, for sure!
November 5, 2025
3.5 - the book has a good moral, but I can’t get past some of the soup ingredients mentioned on one of the pages. Frog legs, sure. Stewed eyeballs, ok. Toenail clippings, nope! Dried mouse droppings, I’m out!
November 2, 2016
A retelling of Bone Soup with a ghoulish Halloween flair sure to delight as well as gross out young readers.
December 1, 2017
This was particularly clever, and fun. I liked the artwork, and the trickster-like tale.
December 5, 2017
Spooky and clever! Finnigan, a trickster ghoul, lurks throughout a barren land hoping to find morsels of food to eat. This makes for a perfect Halloween read, that gives off a slight magic touch.
August 31, 2018
2.5 stars
October 30, 2018
Cute rendition of stone soup. I didn't realize it was a retelling and had expected this to turn into a story of acceptance. But nope, con story.
December 20, 2018
Halloween version of Stone Soup
February 16, 2019
Like Stone Soup, only spooky/Halloween-y. This is one of my favorites.
October 12, 2019
This got quite a few laughs from the kiddo! Solid seasonal retelling. We both thought it was great fun. Isaac: "This is a spooky book!"
November 5, 2019
I thought this book was very clever. The illustrations were funny and the story was fun to read.
January 27, 2020
love this version, fun, especially for halloween
September 24, 2020
Cute, slightly spooky Halloween-themed retelling of Stone Soup. I think the clever parts went over my girls' heads so I'd recommend for first grade and up.
October 28, 2020
A fun Halloween take on Stone Soup
November 4, 2020
very cute illustrations and plot!
October 23, 2021
Spooky fun!
library-to-read
October 18, 2022I do like Stone Soup stories, so I'll have to try this.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 94 reviews