Review: Soup for Breakfast

Bibliography:

Brown, Calef. 2008. Soup for Breakfast: A Collection of Pictures and Poems. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. ISBN 9780618916412

Plot Summary:

Calef Brown’s collection Soup For Breakfast contains fourteen humorous poems connected only by Brown’s unique poetic and visual style. The poems are rhythmic, fanciful, and deal with subjects you just might not read about anywhere else (see: “Oilcloth Tablecloth”). Each poem is accompanied by Brown’s distinctive artwork.

Critical Review:

Calef Brown wants to use poetry to put a smile on your face. Brown’s poetry is lighthearted and often silly. Topics covered in this slim volume include a poem about the joys of eating soup for breakfast, directions for painting on toast, a description of a nose hair moustache, and, something of an anomaly, a message poem that tells us “The mark of our intelligence/is how we treat the elephants”.

Calef uses strong rhythm and rhyme to create a whimsical feel: “I told a secret/to an egret/but he couldn’t keep it/now every sparrow and swallow/in the whole hollow/thinks I’m shallow.” The use of alliteration (as above) and assonance (“why do all grownups/like donuts so much?”) helps give the poems a sing-song feel that rolls off the tongue delightfully.

Brown illustrates his own poems in acrylic. The illustration and the poem together create a singular whole. Brown’s painting style is distinctive. It has a simplistic quality reminiscent of folk art. Brown uses a strong color palette for each poem, giving it a mood that often accentuates elements only suggested in the poem. For example, “Young Moth”, a simple poem about a flying moth, closes with the lines “Sleep tight/Young Moth”. The illustration is steeped in deep midnight blues. Silhouettes of trees and houses with faintly lit windows give the poem a dreamlike quality. The depiction of the moth itself is surreal, with its human face and alien-like antennae. Despite their silliness, the images and feelings these poems and their illustrations create linger long after the book is put away. These are poems that can be enjoyed by all ages. Adults are likely to enjoy reading them as much as children will enjoy hearing them.

Review Excerpts:

“Brown's varied topics and deft touch coupled with his distinctive art make this title a must-have for both school and public libraries.” – School Library Journal (February 1, 2009)

“A good choice for energizing poetry units.” – Booklist (November 15, 2008)

“A smorgasbord of punditry and weirdness, this collection will remind kids that poetry and pictures can exist just for kicks.” – Publishers Weekly (October 13, 2008)

Connections:

Read other works by Calef Brown, including Polkabats and Octopus Slacks and Myra Cohn Livingston Award Winner Flamingos on the Roof: Poems and Paintings

Compare Brown’s poems with other “nonsense” poets such as Shel Silverstein and Ogden Nash.

Let children try their hand at “Painting on Toast”, with real toast and supplies (as described in the book). Children can then eat their creations.