Author: Tomie de Paolo
Title: Watch Out For Chicken Feet in Your Soup
Illustrator: Tomie de Paolo
Publisher: Aladdin
Year: 1985
Genre: Contemporary realistic fiction
Format: Hardcover
Reading Level: Assisted, emergent reader
Interest level: Elementary
Topics: boys, food, grandma, bread, spaghetti, soup
Summary: Joey brings his friend, Eugen, to his Italian grandma's house one day. Eugen is surprised by all the strange things in Joey's grandma's house and when she takes their coats to keep some bread dough warm. He's further surprised when she keeps piling food onto their plates, soup and spaghetti. Joey doesn't finish all of his spaghetti like Eugen so he has to sit at the table until its gone while Eugen makes bread with grandma. When Joey finally finishes grandma and Eugen are just putting the bread into the oven. In the end, Joey and Eugen are sent home with bread, Joey gets a extra special one, and Eugen says, "I love your grandma."
Extension Activity: Talk about the different kinds of foods the children's families eat and what kind of families they come from. Have the children write about a time when they were upset or mad about something and what they did to feel better.
