Granny Torrelli Makes Soup Book

In the book, Granny Torrelli Makes Soup, Sharon Creech offers a story of strong characters and meaningful relationships through good old fashion cooking. Rosie is a high spirited 12 year old with a best friend Bailey. The two grew up next to each other and did everything the same until it was time to go to school. That's when Rosie realized Bailey was different, he was blind. Rosie's attempt to help Bailey anyway possible, at times gets a bit overwhelming to him. When Rosie gets upset with Bailey's reactions, she can always rely on Granny Torrelli to talk her through it. Together, they make soup (zuppa) and Granny tells stories of her childhood friendship with Pardo, which closely resembles the relationship Rosie has with Bailey. Through cooking and storytelling Granny Torelli helps Rosie realize that making up with Bailey is the right thing to do. Granny Torrelli and her cooking are needed again when Rosie finds a new neighbor girl threatening her relationship with Bailey. Granny, Rosie, and Bailey make pasta together as Granny Torrelli tells more familiar stories of her and Pardo back in Italy. It's not long before Rosie and Bailey see the connection between their lives and Granny's lesson. They realize that friendship is what matters in life. Creech's characters are lively and realistic. Granny Torrelli's patient and reasonable exterior yields a feisty and lively past, which is what connects her so much to her granddaughter. Rosie's passion for life and relationships gets her in trouble at times but readers are drawn to her loving heart.

I listened to this story on audio CD and was extremely entertained. Donna Murphy does more than read the text, she acts out the part of each dynamic character. Rosie, being an excitable child often rants with short repeated phrases. Murphy does a beautiful job showing Rosie's burst of emotion, her childlike voice getting progressively higher and louder. Whatever emotion it may be, Murphy is able to adjust her voice to pinpoint exactly what Rosie might sound like. As for Granny Torrelli, I can still hear her low, calm Italian accent subtly giving advice to her granddaughter. The audio version of this story was amazing.