Quill Soup by Alan Durant illustrated by Dale Blankenaar

A stranger arrives in the village. His name is Noko and he his a porcupine. Noko is tired and hungry. The villagers are suspicious of strangers. When Noko asks for something to eat every householder refuses him.  He asks the warthog, the rabbit, the monkey, aardvark, pangolin and the meerkat. 

"None of them, they said, had any food."

"He could see from the villagers' sleek coats and rounded bellies that they were lying."

Noko is smart. He asks for a pot and, as the villagers watch, he pulls three quills from his back and puts them in the pot. He tells the villagers that the king loves his quill soup. Noko tastes his soup and comments that it would taste even better with a few carrots. And so the trick begins. A variety of tasty ingredients are added to the soup and when it is ready every one enjoys a delicious bowl.

This is a richly handsome hardback book that retells the traditional story that many of us know as ‘Stone Soup’. But this time the story is in its African form. It’s an ancient story, but apt for our present time, and for our children. Should we share? With strangers? Awfully Big Reviews

In this video Alan Durant reads his book. Here are a set of activities to use with this book. Dale Blankenaar is an artist from South Africa. You can see some of his work here. Quill Soup won a prize in the Northern Lights Book Awards (Food category) in 2020. Trickers Tales are an interesting genre to include in a library program along with Tall Tales. I recommend Quill Soup as a worthwhile addition for your Primary school library

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