Global TeachNet
July-August, 1999
Through Stone Soup for the World, Marrianne Larned has brought
together 100 inspirational stories from the lives of young people and
world leaders, all of whom have shared a courage to reach beyond
themselves, to grapple with obstacles in their lives and their
countries. Their determination and success both inspire and challenge
young readers to face squarely the adversities within their own lives.
These stories, manageable in length and clear in message, transcend
culture, ethnicity and gender, touching alike the alienated urban child
and the most jaded suburban teenager. With the excellent Leader's Guide,
Stone Soup for the World can be a valuable tool for middle and
high school teachers of language arts and social studies seeking to
enrich their lessons and the lives of their students.
The dramatic and heartening stories in Stone Soup immediately
immerse readers in other cultures and countries, and engage them in the
struggles of real heroes who fight battles against violence, disease and
hunger within their individual lives, their communities and nations at
large. These are the stories of Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Martin
Luther King, Jr., Cesar Chavez and Gandhi. These are also the stories of
boys and girls ranging from four to late teens.
Narratives come from 29 countries, includes the tale of 15 year old
Arn Chorn, who escaped the Cambodian "Killing Fields" and
traveled to America where he helped teen victims of violence in inner
city schools, later returning to Cambodia to organize young people to
rebuild their own nation.
In addition to the splendid collection of stories, Larned has provided
exceptional supportive materials in the form of a Leader's Guide,
which lists stimulating questions for students, values and qualities
exemplified in the stories, lessons gleaned from the narratives,
activities for language arts and social studies classes, and project
ideas for community service. The self-paced Leader's Guide,
which emphasizes improving young people's reading and higher-order
thinking skills, ensures that the Stone Soup selections can support
discussions on global interdependence, cross-cultural issues, cultural
and ethnic diversity, conflict management, and universal human rights.
Ultimately, Stone Soup for the World may simply be viewed as an
expansive array of inspirational stories about accomplished individuals,
young and old, who have achieved extraordinary things against enormous
challenges. But, Stone Soup is much more. Through the narratives of
these individuals' intimate struggles and final successes, the young
reader takes away a vision of victory and, hence, a greater willingness
to engage the struggles in life. For, if these real people in their real
stories can live such vibrant lives, accomplish so much, and in the end
prevail, could not the young reader find comparable courage to face the
inevitable challenges in his life? If Stone Soup can accomplish that
feat, even for only one young mind, it would truly have been worth its
place in our classroom.
Note: Stone Soup for the Wold Book and Leader's Guide are available
for the special price of $25 (reg. 39.95) + $3.95 shipping/handling from:
Stone Soup Foundation, PO Box 44301, Vineyard Haven, MA 02568; tel:
508-696-8514, fax: 508-696-9460; soup4world@aol.com.
Visit the Global TeachNet web site. www.rpcv.org/globaled/
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