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Bone Button Borscht
On a dark winter's night, a ragged beggar dreams of a warm hearth and a delicious meal -- and sets out to find just that. In this retelling of the classic folk tale "Stone Soup," a stranger teaches the poor villagers what can be accomplished with a few buttons and a little cooperation.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published July 11, 1995
3 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Aubrey Davis
12 books44 followersI always loved to read. As a boy I had a passion for myths, bible stories, science fiction and Mad magazine. My neighbor was a writer for CBC. Maybe I caught the writing bug from him. I loved to write funny stories. My Grade six teacher liked them. But my Grade eight teacher hated them. So I stopped writing creatively until I was 42.
In 1970, I traveled across Europe and North Africa and discovered a remarkable collection of traditional Teaching stories by Afghan writer Idries Shah. These bottomless tales puzzled, shocked and delighted me. They helped me see the world and myself in fresh, new ways. They made me think like I’d never thought before.
In 1980, I began to tell them, first to my own children, then at weekly gatherings in Toronto. Later I told stories on radio and television, and in schools, libraries and festivals across North America. I created an oral language program for developmentally disabled children. I taught them language through story. They taught me how to tell and write simply and dramatically.
One day I was invited to tell a Chanukah tale to a large and very young audience. I couldn’t find a story I liked. In desperation I wrote one myself. The children loved it and so did Kids Can Press. That’s how Bone Button Borscht was born.
Over the years, I’ve worked as a logger, farmer, salesman and teacher. Now I write and tell stories.
My book, Bagels from Benny, has won may awards including the Sydney Taylor Award and the Canadian Jewish Book Awards Children’s Literature Prize. I have also written the screenplay for Sheldon Cohen’s animated film, The Three Wishes was published in October 2011 as Kishka For Koppel (Orca). My most recent book is A Hen for Izzy Pippik (Kids Can Press),Une Poule pour Izzy Pippik (Editions Scholastic).
In 1970, I traveled across Europe and North Africa and discovered a remarkable collection of traditional Teaching stories by Afghan writer Idries Shah. These bottomless tales puzzled, shocked and delighted me. They helped me see the world and myself in fresh, new ways. They made me think like I’d never thought before.
In 1980, I began to tell them, first to my own children, then at weekly gatherings in Toronto. Later I told stories on radio and television, and in schools, libraries and festivals across North America. I created an oral language program for developmentally disabled children. I taught them language through story. They taught me how to tell and write simply and dramatically.
One day I was invited to tell a Chanukah tale to a large and very young audience. I couldn’t find a story I liked. In desperation I wrote one myself. The children loved it and so did Kids Can Press. That’s how Bone Button Borscht was born.
Over the years, I’ve worked as a logger, farmer, salesman and teacher. Now I write and tell stories.
My book, Bagels from Benny, has won may awards including the Sydney Taylor Award and the Canadian Jewish Book Awards Children’s Literature Prize. I have also written the screenplay for Sheldon Cohen’s animated film, The Three Wishes was published in October 2011 as Kishka For Koppel (Orca). My most recent book is A Hen for Izzy Pippik (Kids Can Press),Une Poule pour Izzy Pippik (Editions Scholastic).
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 6, 2025
Yes indeed, Toronto writer and storyteller Aubrey Davis (1949-2022) in the 1995 picture book Bone Button Borscht (with a Ukrainian and also Jewish version of the Soup Stone folktale, where the featured and finally community building soup is of course and according to the title a traditional borscht, the setting a small and depressingly poor village and instead of stones, the supposedly magical ingredients are bone buttons) has filled his presented text with both descriptive pathos and also much drolly delightful humour (and also with Serbian illustrator Dušan Petričić's expressive and delightfully atmospheric accompanying watercolour illustrations), showing in and with Bone Button Borscht how an anonymous beggar comes to an externally promising looking Ukrainian Jewish village hoping for a meal, but that the poverty stricken both in body and in spirit inhabitants all turn him, all turn the beggar away (and yes, even the caretaker of the synagogue, even the shamas, who does not even want to converse with the beggar). And just how in Stone Soup, the starving soldiers use stones to inspire the villagers not wanting to share their meagre crops and stored foodstuff to make a large pot of community soup, the beggar in Bone Button Borscht is shown by Davis' often jaunty and always engaging words as well as by Petričić's images as taking three bone buttons from his coat, then asking the shamas for one more button for bone-button borscht (which is supposed to be something magical and miraculous and with the entire village soon being involved and everyone creating an absolutely delicious borscht, a huge pot of brightly red soup that in Bone Button Borscht nourishes not only the beggar and the villagers' bodies but also their spirits, their sense of community and belonging, creating lasting collectively optimistic and positive energy).
Now with regard to what Aubrey Davis textually and Dušan Petričić pictorially provide, the combination of words and images for Bone Button Broth is (at least in my humble opinion) absolutely lovely, totally spectacular, and with Petričić's nicely expressive artwork also rather cleverly visually reflecting Davis' penmanship in so far that the artwork moves from blurry greyness to a celebration of colour and light, and of course mostly centred around a huge and almost glowing pot of brightly red and delectable looking and tasting borscht and just like the text for Bone Button Borscht also moves from rather bleak and drably depressed surroundings and curmudgeonly people to a spirited, fun and emotionally satisfying community feast and celebration (and with everyone satisfied and contented). But just to point out and a bit unfortunately so, albeit Bone Button Borscht is a great picture book for reading aloud (due in particular to Aubrey Davis' narrative and also specifically because of his knack for engaging and humour-filled storytelling), I will still have to lower my rating from five to four stars. For considering that Bone Button Borscht is a Stone Soup variant, well, for me (and especially for adult me), Davis really should be including an author's note in Bone Button Broth about Stone Soup as a folktale and that Aubrey Davis should at the very least be mentioning how there indeed are very many European and non European Stone Soup types of tales out there and that Stone Soup is actually number 1548 in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index of folk and fairy tales (and thus has an entire index section named after it).
Now with regard to what Aubrey Davis textually and Dušan Petričić pictorially provide, the combination of words and images for Bone Button Broth is (at least in my humble opinion) absolutely lovely, totally spectacular, and with Petričić's nicely expressive artwork also rather cleverly visually reflecting Davis' penmanship in so far that the artwork moves from blurry greyness to a celebration of colour and light, and of course mostly centred around a huge and almost glowing pot of brightly red and delectable looking and tasting borscht and just like the text for Bone Button Borscht also moves from rather bleak and drably depressed surroundings and curmudgeonly people to a spirited, fun and emotionally satisfying community feast and celebration (and with everyone satisfied and contented). But just to point out and a bit unfortunately so, albeit Bone Button Borscht is a great picture book for reading aloud (due in particular to Aubrey Davis' narrative and also specifically because of his knack for engaging and humour-filled storytelling), I will still have to lower my rating from five to four stars. For considering that Bone Button Borscht is a Stone Soup variant, well, for me (and especially for adult me), Davis really should be including an author's note in Bone Button Broth about Stone Soup as a folktale and that Aubrey Davis should at the very least be mentioning how there indeed are very many European and non European Stone Soup types of tales out there and that Stone Soup is actually number 1548 in the Aarne–Thompson–Uther Index of folk and fairy tales (and thus has an entire index section named after it).
March 29, 2021
This is basically a retelling of Stone Soup. The illustrations are drab, and there's way too much text to make this a popular read-aloud. I can see why we're withdrawing it from our library.
August 3, 2023
Do you know what borscht is? I did not, but quickly learned about it thanks to the helpful information included in the book’s cover flaps.
I really appreciate the additional details PJ Library books provide on their book flaps that add depth, context, and continued learning to the book’s lessons or references within. This includes questions to “talk it over with your kids” and a “hands on!” activity. This really helps translate story time into active learning beyond the pages of a book.
I especially enjoy the Hebrew references and translations the flaps often include: “The begger greets people with the classic Hebrew phrase - Shalom aleichem! (Peace be with you!)”
Apparently Bone Buttons is a retelling of Stone Soup and other similar folktale versions across varying cultures and soups. I haven’t come across any other version of this tale but appreciate the lesson: community, “it is good to help each other out. Even in hard times.”
I really appreciate the additional details PJ Library books provide on their book flaps that add depth, context, and continued learning to the book’s lessons or references within. This includes questions to “talk it over with your kids” and a “hands on!” activity. This really helps translate story time into active learning beyond the pages of a book.
I especially enjoy the Hebrew references and translations the flaps often include: “The begger greets people with the classic Hebrew phrase - Shalom aleichem! (Peace be with you!)”
Apparently Bone Buttons is a retelling of Stone Soup and other similar folktale versions across varying cultures and soups. I haven’t come across any other version of this tale but appreciate the lesson: community, “it is good to help each other out. Even in hard times.”
September 15, 2018
A nice retelling of Stone Soup with a Jewish cast of characters. The story is lovely, illustrations rather muted and nondescript and lots of text per page. Definitely for an older picture book audience.
July 7, 2025
Stone Soup is one of my favorite tales and there are lots of adaptations of it. This one gets 3.5 stars rounded up because it's OwnVoices and the theme is both timeless and important. Here, unfortunately, it seems even less plausible - too many people donating a total of too little food. And also they must know, on some level, that they are being tricked and are choosing to go along with it. If your library has a copy, I do encourage you to check it out.
January 1, 2020
This came up in a list of Jewish books. What I wasn’t expecting was that it’s the same story as stone soup! I wonder which tale cake first... 🤔
January 13, 2021
A fun reflection on community and kindness with a focus on Jewish culture.
April 5, 2024
This is an interesting spin on the timeless tale of ‘Stone Soup’ It adds a few flourishes to the tale and even an added lesson plus the pencil and watercolor illustrations are excellent
January 1, 2017
1. Culture or group portrayed: Jews.
2. Book information: Davis, A. (1995). Bone Button Borscht. New York: Kids Can Press, Ltd.
3. Summary: On a cold winter’s night, a traveling beggar has every door shut in his face. He finds a synagogue, where there is a warm inviting fire, and begins to pop the buttons off his coat. He tells the shamas, or caretaker, that he can make a delicious borscht (vegetable soup) for the whole town, if only he had one more button. Everyone thinks this is ludicrous, of course, for who heard of making soup with buttons? However, the townspeople need to have their curiosity satisfied, so they come to the synagogue, bearing the various items the beggar asks for, and sure enough, a delicious soup materializes at the end.
4. Cultural/Multicultural evaluation: This is a Jewish version of Stone Soup, but no less entertaining for that. I liked how the illustrations were dark and depressing at the beginning, but as the townspeople began to work together, and celebrated with the soup and camaraderie at the end, the illustrations became much brighter and less dreary. The story illustrates the power of community, and how we’re all in this together.
5. Conclusion/verdict: I do recommend it, but for older elementary, as some of the words might be too difficult for younger kids, even when read aloud.
2. Book information: Davis, A. (1995). Bone Button Borscht. New York: Kids Can Press, Ltd.
3. Summary: On a cold winter’s night, a traveling beggar has every door shut in his face. He finds a synagogue, where there is a warm inviting fire, and begins to pop the buttons off his coat. He tells the shamas, or caretaker, that he can make a delicious borscht (vegetable soup) for the whole town, if only he had one more button. Everyone thinks this is ludicrous, of course, for who heard of making soup with buttons? However, the townspeople need to have their curiosity satisfied, so they come to the synagogue, bearing the various items the beggar asks for, and sure enough, a delicious soup materializes at the end.
4. Cultural/Multicultural evaluation: This is a Jewish version of Stone Soup, but no less entertaining for that. I liked how the illustrations were dark and depressing at the beginning, but as the townspeople began to work together, and celebrated with the soup and camaraderie at the end, the illustrations became much brighter and less dreary. The story illustrates the power of community, and how we’re all in this together.
5. Conclusion/verdict: I do recommend it, but for older elementary, as some of the words might be too difficult for younger kids, even when read aloud.
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March 17, 2010 This is a story about a poor beggar who helps a selfish commmunity realize the powere of sharing and comming together to help eachother in hard times. The Beggar promises to make borscht out of magic buttons but ends up tricking the townspeople into providing all the ingrediants that were needed. Separately all the people were poor and miserable, but together, they all ate and they were full and happy.
I really like the moral to this story. I think it is important for children to learn what it means to be a member of a community and the importance of charity. However, I do not like the way the book is presented. There is a lot of text on each page so younger children would not be able to read it on their own and some of the vocabulary is too advanced. the pictures are not very detailed and bland, usually darker blues, grays and browns. I do not think they would be appealing for children to look at during a read-a-loud. For this reason, i would probably try to find a different story that conveys a similar message, but is more appealing to children.
I really like the moral to this story. I think it is important for children to learn what it means to be a member of a community and the importance of charity. However, I do not like the way the book is presented. There is a lot of text on each page so younger children would not be able to read it on their own and some of the vocabulary is too advanced. the pictures are not very detailed and bland, usually darker blues, grays and browns. I do not think they would be appealing for children to look at during a read-a-loud. For this reason, i would probably try to find a different story that conveys a similar message, but is more appealing to children.
June 26, 2011
A re-telling of the folkloric Stone Soup, with an obvious Jewish bent to it, and a book I think everyone should read, or at least the Stone Soup tale to remind themselves 'We are all in this together!' I bought this book several years ago when I use to work for a big chain bookstore who would occassionally buy out remaining stock from closed bookstores, and sell them pretty cheap. I think I may have paid a $1.50 for it, at most, and I had already read it in the store, but it's so heartwarming I felt I had to have it. The artwork is great, dark and chilling in the beginning, and more bright and lively at the end. It's such a cute read, and I enjoy the Jewish community setting, it adds another layer to an already enjoyable tale!
October 15, 2009
This book has high literary value. It is easy to relate to the characters because they are all common people who struggle from time to time. The setting of the story is similar to my hometown, a small town in the country. This book has a great moral behind it and I think that it would be a great book to use in an elementary classroom. It teaches the importance of going out of your way to help those that needed it, even if you are not doing that great either. It shows that when a lot of people pitch in a little to help a cause you get big results. The story was also very easy to follow along with because it had a repetitive them to it.
December 13, 2011
I just remembered how much I enjoyed this book, when I saw a similar version on Heather's list. This is sort of a Yiddish version of Stone Soup. It is about a poor beggar who makes soup, obviously but switched to Borscht, and uses buttons, rather than stones, soldiers and vegetable soup. I had not read this book for several years but I should revisit some of my all time favorites now and then.
I also was a pushover for great kids books. When my kids were little, I spent money at their Book Fairs. That was where I found this particular treasure! Such a good memory.
I also was a pushover for great kids books. When my kids were little, I spent money at their Book Fairs. That was where I found this particular treasure! Such a good memory.
March 6, 2011
A great retelling of the folk story motif of stone soup. Davis, the storyteller, who wrote this verison has done well at presenting the story in a warm way and uses a cold snowy night for the warmth to begin. The use of bone buttons is interesting as many soups begin with a bone and these bones just happen to have been buttons. I enjoyed the Jewish village and references the storyteller describes as the story unfolds. great read.
November 22, 2016
Uma história linda e emocionante para ensinar valores de cooperação, compaixão e amor ao próximo. E que a união das pessoas faz a diferença na vida da comunidade que a cerca. Excelente livro para ensinar valores aos pequenos.
OBS: Li a versão em português que se chama Sopa de Botão de Osso (aliás, me atraiu logo de cara pelo título).
OBS: Li a versão em português que se chama Sopa de Botão de Osso (aliás, me atraiu logo de cara pelo título).
February 24, 2015
Not only did my daughter (5) love this book, we made the borscht recipe and it was delicious! I think part of its appeal is that it looks so different from other books and the language is mature. It's a favorite.
November 10, 2008
A re-telling of "Stone Soup".
September 1, 2010
Truly, the most beautiful re-telling of stone soup I have ever read. This will be a staple in our home.
August 31, 2012
Illustrations are well done & the storyline is a cute rendition of the stone soup stories.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews