Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup by Giovanna Zoboli illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio translated by Denis Muir

As a soup lover, I hope that this story will also have a gastronomic impact: that is, if children liked this literary soup, it is not excluded that they could start eating 

real soups without raising a bat of protest. 

It will be enough to tell them that to cook them you have followed the secret recipe of the infamous Lepron Soup, and said soups will evaporate from the plates 

in the blink of an eye. Giovanna Zoboli

Click here to read more about the creative processes and original inspiration for Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup at Topipittori and see the exhibition at the Bologna book fair.

Mr Lepron is an older and handsome hare. He loves his family, his forest home through all the seasonal changes and his huge family. Reminiscent of Peter Rabbit, Mr Lepron loves vegetables, the vegetables in the nearby famer's fields - carrots, onions, celery, lettuce, beans, pumpkins, radishes and a variety of herbs. All of these are perfect ingredients for soup. These are seasonal vegetables and so each autumn everyone helps to gather the abundance from the fields. Mr Lepron has a wonderful cooking pot "which he bought by mail order from a world-famous shop." 

It is important to note - "the pot doesn't like to be watched while the soup is cooking, just like Mr Lepron doesn't like to be watched while he's hard at work in his kitchen."

While the soup simmers Mr Lepron dreams of magical things only waking up when the soup is ready. This soup is so delicious. What is the secret? No one seems to be able to create it in quite the same way even though they use all of the same ingredients. Over time word spreads about this soup. Everyone wants some. 

"Then suddenly, one day, to everyone's surprise, Mr Lepron opened a factory: a big brick building that worked around the clock cooking up soup."

Can you think of a problem? Will the soup still be delicious? Why or why not? What might happen to Mr Lepron?

Mr Lepron loves making vegetable soup, and all the other creatures love his soup too, It isn’t too long before he decides to monetise his passion and starts making soup at industrial scale. Well that’s fine, he can employ the other creatures which is great – we all need a job. But before long Mr Lepron has been sucked into the very machinery of capitalism. The money-making business of soup takes over his life, his dreams and his nightmares. His coat is no longer so shiny and his eyes lose their brightness. What should Mr Lepron do? Well, this is a fable so I can tell you he doesn’t do quite what the capitalist machine would have him do. Just Imagine

There are several things that drew me to this book. When I was researching Italian children's book illustrators prior to attending the 2024 IBBY Congress in Trieste I saw the name Mariachiara Di Giorgio. I previously read and loved another book by this illustrator - The Midnight Fair. You may also know the famous wordless book Professional Crocodile. 

Next, I saw this book was a 2024 IBBY Honour book for illustration. It has the Italian title: La zuppa Lepron. At the congress there were lots of books on display including all the 2024 honour books and so I was able to see Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup but, because it was in Italian, I could only guess at the story. Opening the book, though, I spied the most delightful endpapers and so when I later saw this book had been translated into English I just knew I had to find it and even buy it. 

See more illustrations from this book here.

Walker Books Australia have the English version of this book [9781529520859] but very strangely I have found it hard to source. Luckily one of our city bookstores did have a copy and because the author's name starts with 'z' it was hidden on a low shelf. Even though the shop had stocked it back in July 2024 it had not been sold. One more thing that made me determined to read Mr Lepron's Soup - I am collecting picture books for older readers (Upper Primary/Elementary and Junior High School) in readiness for a library conference later this year. The age range listed for this book is ages 3-8 but that, in my opinion, totally misses the themes of this book about commercialisation, consumerism, enterprise, exploitation and the dangers of spreading rumours. You could also think about the way social media can inflate or ruin a reputation and there is the issue of the fleeting nature of fame. 

Image Source: Bologna 2022

Zoboli’s lengthy, descriptive text, translated from Italian, and Di Giorgio’s watercolor, gouache, and colored pencil art, together infuse Mr. Lepron with a deep humanity and construct a compelling, dreamy world that harkens back to the past in its tone and look but, with its nods to the all-consuming nature of capitalism, feels grounded in current realities, much like their previous collaboration, Professional Crocodile (2017). A clever, compassionate, and elegantly wrought reminder to do what makes you happy.  Kirkus Star review

Publisher blurb: Mr Lepron lives in the forest and has a toasty warm home and many children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Oh, and he adores vegetables and making soup. Mr Lepron also enjoys napping and he always dreams of being a famous chef, cooking his magnificent soup. After his vivid, fantastical dreams, Mr Lepron's soup tastes out-of-this-world irresistible. So irresistible, that Mr Lepron becomes famous. So irresistible, that Mr Lepron opens a soup factory that starts working around the clock. But as his dreams turn to nightmares about the factory, Mr Lepron's soup loses its magical flavour, and he realizes that what matters most in the world is not fame and riches, but time spent with his beloved children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren, playing, laughing, napping and, sometimes, cooking his soup ... with love.

Beginning with the title you could talk to your group about the name of the hare Mr Lepron. In French hare if Lievre; in Italian it is Lepre; in Latin it is Lepus; and the Spanish is Liebre. One reviewer also noted the eyes of the hares throughout the book look startled as though they are on alert for predators. And if you look closely at the cover it does resemble a can of soup. 

When you open this book take a moment to think about the official Mr Lepron portrait opposite the title page. Older students could compare this with the portraits of actual people (known and unknown). 

Image source: Topipittori

Think about the opening words of this book: "Mr Lepron is a very handsome hare with a bright, shiny coat and lovely, long ears." Do looks equate with success? Why has the illustrator used this pose? 

... this is what happens until Lepron decides to follow his fantasy, that is, to want the whole world to taste the soup. Thus he opened an industrial plant, where, however, the initial success was quickly followed by the awareness that the soup made in this way could not maintain the same flavor, since the vegetables would have to be available all year round and the preparation would have to be mechanized. ... A story that makes us reflect on the simple pleasures of sharing, of waiting for the times of nature and of the reward and gratification we derive from it. ... Lepron's dream had never been to earn, but to make his autumn soup known in the world. Instead, the soup produced in his factory, canned and designed to have a long shelf life, had nothing to do with the delicious taste of the original soup and this had made him sad.

Another reviewer commented: Lepron's dream of greatness, which does not foresee the times of nature and the importance of human work, instead turns into an ugly reality, so much so that even his dreams change and become disturbing. Fortunately, he decides to follow his heart, close the factory and make peace with himself.

This Reviewer links the illustrations in this book especially the pantry and kitchen scenes with the work of Beatrix Potter and Jill Barklem.

Giovanna Zoboli is the author of over 30 picture books, including Professional Crocodile, illustrated by Mariachiara Di Giorgio and The Big Book of Slumber, illustrated by Simona Mulazzani. Giovanna is also the co-founder of an Italian children's publishing company where she is currently editor and art director.

Mariachiara Di Giorgio is an illustrator, storyboard artist and concept designer from Rome, Italy. She illustrated Midnight Fair, a wordless picture book with a storyline by Gideon Sterer, which won the 2022 Yoto Kate Greenaway Shadowers' Choice award. Her first picture book, Professional Crocodile, was also wordless, with a storyline by Giovanna Zoboli.

Companion books to read after Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup:

Read more here.

Finally, not to trivialize the themes of Mr Lepron's Mystery Soup but my friend from Kinderbookswitheverything has a Pinterest collection of picture books about soup. Stealing the vegetables from the farmer's fields also made me think of this book for young readers - The Vegetable Thieves. 

The Fortune Maker by Catherine Norton

"It meant living in the cheapest room in Silvertown, in a house on Pilchard Street at the very end of a terrace that tilted towards a lake of dark, oozing run-off from the coal tar factory. Their room had one tiny window they had to keep closed against the stench, especially in summer, and tide water seeped up through the floorboards all year round. Silvertown itself was built on a boggy bit of land between the river and the docks, in the shadow of dozens of factories that filled the streets with the foul stinks of sulphur, tar and the boiling bones and guts of slaughtered animals."

Maud Mulligan lives in desperately poor circumstances in a London slum. The year is 1913 - think about the significance of that date - suffragettes; Emaline Pankhurst; World War I is not far off; and the Industrial Revolution means thousands of people have come to London and many work in very dangerous factories. Maud might have a tough life, but she also has a dream to leave the slums and travel with her father to a better place. In their lodgings they have a jar and every day for the last seven years she has been saving so that one day they can buy two tickets on a streamer to somewhere else. Sadly, this cannot happen because the very old building where they live falls into the Thames. The money is gone. Then her father is killed by an elephant that was being winched off a ship down on the docks. He was knocked into the river and drowned. Now Maud has no family, no home, no money and only the clothes she had been wearing the day her home fell into the river.

Maud and her father had been living in an unused pantry in the home of Mrs Wray. Her husband is a violent man and for a while Maude manages to keep out of his way but then she is discovered and so now she is forced to live on the streets. 

This is a time of superstition. Maud is desperate to know the future. 

"Underneath the river, between the factories on the north bank and the gun yards on the south, there was a tunnel. ... for a few pennies you could find out your future."

In a heartbreaking scene we see Maud exchange her mother's beautiful green shawl so she can learn about her future. 

"How will I get out of Silverton?"

"Ruin! You will lose everything."

What does this prophecy mean? Maud is kidnapped by a man connected with a factory that makes dyes. The rich owners have also consulted a fortune teller - a famous and rich one. Somehow the colour yellow is important, as are chemistry lessons. Maud will escape, then be recaptured, then escape again. Along the way she meets rich people, corrupt people, and surprising new friends. She is even caught up in a suffragette protest march - a violent one. And there is another layer over the top of all of this which is hinted at on the cover. Maud herself is able to see the future - this is a gift but it could also put her in grave danger.

Maud is told to predict the colour that will be in fashion next year.

"Maud carefully lifted the crystal ball from the velvet-lined box and carried it to an armchair. ... She gasped when the flames flickered and changed. They became a column of figures, so indistinct as to be almost silhouettes. Even so, she could tell they were not ladies but men, moving slowly forwards and swaying.  ... The dying men were sucked abruptly into the ground."

All she can see is grey and black and mud and sludge. What does this mean?

This book has 312 pages and I read it all on one day - yes this book is THAT good. The final sentence made me gasp! I sincerely hope this book has been entered in our CBCA (Children's Book Council of Australia) awards and if it has, I am certain it will be a Younger Readers Notable title and almost certainly a short-listed book too. I am surprised I haven't heard more people talking about this book which was released in August, 2023. That said, do take a look at all the positive comments on Catherine Norton's web page. I also really like the cover - in fact that is what drew me to this book when I saw it in a local independent book shop. Catherine Norton's book Crossing was a 2015 CBCA Notable but I somehow missed reading it. 

Publisher blurb: London, 1913 Twelve-year-old Maud Mulligan knows there's no future for her in London, in the rat-infested slum where she grew up. But in the tunnel under the river are fortune tellers, Seers, who will tell your fortune for a few pennies. And then there is Mr Mandalay, Seer to the king and anyone else rich enough to afford him. When Mr Mandalay sees Maud in a foretelling for a wealthy factory heiress, she believes Maud can save her family from financial ruin. But how? And why? In a world shaken by suffragettes, scientists, and the threat of war, what could a girl like Maud do to change anyone's future - or even her own?

This is a mystical adventure about strength, determination and changing times. Full of optimism even in the most desperate of situations, it shows how survival can be achieved through the worst or best experience, depending on the strength within to face whatever you are dealt. A stunning, eye-catching cover equals the fantastic read. Kids' Book Review

This reviewer inhaled this book - I did too. 

Serious themes of grief and loss, gender roles, power and resilience underpin this adventure but never overburden this exhilarating roller coaster read. The writing is assured, rich in historical detail, and enlivened by delightful insights into character. ...  I inhaled this book in one sitting and I think many others will do the same. ... Its high production values indicate the publishers think they have a keeper and I agree with them. Story Links

This story feels like the writing of Charles Dickens. You could share some children's abridged versions of his famous stories with your child after reading The Fortune Maker.

Here are some teachers notes from the publisher. You can read chapters one and two here. 

Companion books:

My Friend the Octopus

The Runaways of Haddington Hall

The Mystery of the Clockwork Sparrow

The Truth about Verity Sparks

Withering by Sea

Counting on Grace

TrooFriend by Kirsty Applebaum

TrooFriend

YOUR.ONE.TRUE.FRIEND.

I AM A TROOFRIEND

I DO NOT BULLY.

I DO NOT HARM.

I DO NOT LIE.

I DO NOT COVET OR STEAL OR ENVY.

I AM YOUR PERFECT FRIEND.

YOUR

ONE

TROOFRIEND.

Yes, you probably already know I ADORE ADORE  books about robots!  I am not entirely sure why but they often have a slightly 'political' flavour which intrigues me. There is certainly an undercurrent of subversion in TrooFriend.

Sarah has busy parents. She is an only child. Mum and dad decide to buy Sarah a Jenson & Jenson TrooFriend 560 Mark IV.

"Each one of us is unique. We have different skin colours, different eye colours and different hair colours. ... Our clothes are made of TrooCloth. ... It is tear-resistant, water-resistant and crease-resistant."

Sarah names her Troofriend Ivy. The reason for this will give you a smile. Back in the factory Ivy did not have a name she was one android robot Mark IV of one hundred and forty-four. She was number eighty-three.

Sarah does not want an android robot as a friend she tells her parents she wants a dog. Mum insists Ivy will be the perfect 'friend'. Sarah disagrees but over the coming weeks she makes some amazing discoveries about Ivy which cause her to totally rethink her ideas.  Look again at the list of qualities at the beginning of this post. Perhaps these things are not true. Has the factory made a mistake? Do Jenson & Jenson TrooFriend 560 Mark IV robots actually experience emotions and if they do is this dangerous?

This book has some truly funny moments alongside a poignant story about feelings and friendships. I really appreciated the distinct 'voice' Kirsty Applebaum gives to Ivy. It is so funny the way Ivy describes the kitchen appliances such as the dishwasher as inferior robots. Every time she wakes up she states the date and weather. The repetition of this is hilarious. I also loved the way Ivy used her factory specifications to describe the hair and eye colours of each human that she meets:

Sarah eyes Hazel 101 hair Chestnut 29 in a classic collar bone cut.
Keanna eyes Deep Brown 02 hair Darkest Best Brown in a Coily half-up-half-down style.
Milly eyes Mint Green 204 hair too messy to say which Jenson & Jenson standard style it would be.

Here is a description of one of the teachers from the day Sarah takes Ivy to school:

Mrs Vickerman "I look at her hair. Frost Blonde 52 Retro Beehive. It stays completely still when she moves just like the hair on a Jenson & Jenson TrooFriend 560 Mark III. It was considered a sub-standard design aspect on the Jenson & Jenson TrooFriend 560 Mark III, which led to the development of the TrooHair for the Jenson & Jenson Troofriend 560 Mark IV."

Ivy also judges truth and emotions in percentages.
"Rob-Dad's eyebrows scrunch up. It is likely to an accuracy of 74% that he is confused."
"Sarah's eyebrows scrunch up. It is likely to an accuracy of 59% that she is angry and it is also likely to an accuracy of 59% that she is worried."

I think this is a book that any reader aged 9+ will truly enjoy. Well done to publisher Nosy Crow - this book is a winner!

Click these review quotes for more plot details:

A moving and philosophical story told in such a way that it is impossible to put down. Bookmurmuration

The plot is totally addictive making this book impossible to put down. Madge Reviews

Written in an entertaining, quirky and accessible way, Troofriend is a thought-provoking story that will have you hooked. BookTrust

I would pair this book with The Wild Robot by Peter Brown and Eager by Helen Fox.