Pinch and Dash Make Soup

Gr 1–3—Pinch is hungry but too lazy to make his own meal and too lazy to walk to a local restaurant for some soup. He wanders over to see what his friend Dash is cooking and takes his pepper and hot sauce along (because Dash never uses enough). Pinch sees that "skinny soup" is bubbling on the stove and returns home several times for ingredients from his fridge to add to it. When he attempts to slip some pepper and hot sauce into the pot, the friends argue. While Dash is in the dining room setting the table, Pinch sneaks a sprinkle of pepper and two squirts of hot sauce into it. When Dash returns, he feels bad about arguing with his friend, who has gone to sit at the table, and adds more seasonings. With the soup now inedible, the two end up hugging and going out for lunch. Suitable for confident readers who aren't ready to tackle chapter books, the story is told through short sentences and plenty of clues in the pictures. The illustrations are a little difficult to decipher at times, but not enough to be distracting or frustrating. A good choice for libraries looking to expand the upper ranges of their beginning-reader collections.—Amy Commers, South St. Paul Public Library, MN