The Biggest Soap

The Biggest Soap

Carole Lexa Schafer

Pictures by Stacey Dressen-McQueen

Douglas and McIntyre, 2004

32 pages

Multi-Cultural

      I adore this book! It was chosen for me by a librarian, and she highly recommended it, and now I know why! The main character is a precious little boy named Kessy, and he goes with his mother and her cousins to wash clothes. He loves to sit and listen to their wonderful stories and play in the warm water, but when they run out of soap, it is Kessy that his mother asks! He is so proud to help them, but he doesn't want to miss all the good stories so he hurries to Minda's shop for a big piece of soap. Along the way he runs into friends, and family, but he says focused on the task at hand! His journey back to the washing tub is a different story! He comes across the same people, but at every stop, him and the biggest soap save the day! Of course, when he gets back he regales his tale and slightly exaggerates, but he makes it into a fantastical tale of heroism, smiling all the way! Kessy discovers that he is a story teller, just like his mom!

      The pictures are my favorite thing about this little book! Alright, I know I always say that, but it is true! The colors are phenomenal! There are beautiful patterns and designs, and I notices that they even mix patterns in their wardrobes! They are so stylish, those Truk Islanders! These pictures are done with pencil, acrylics and watercolors and have been separated.

      If I used this in my class, we would definitely make our own soap! They could see what it takes to make things yourself, and that some people in the world don't go to Wal-Mart to buy their soap. This book could be used as a language arts lesson. You could have the students think of a time when they were doing something very ordinary, and encourage them to use their imaginations like Kessy did, and make it into an exciting, fantastic story! This book could be used for an intro into a social studies lesson about communities. You could talk with your students about why they have such a tight-nit community on an island.