Caldecott Medal winner Maurice Sendak gives us clever saying about each month of the year. A delightful story that your child will enjoy over and over again.

This tale is small in stature (lap-size for a toddler), but has been big on heart since 1962. The narrator tells why each month of the year is perfect for having chicken soup with rice. "I told you once, I told you twice, all seasons of the year are nice, for eating chicken soup with rice." You can "sip it in February with your snowman for his birthday, concoct it in a nest with a robin lightly dressed" in May, or "Take a peep into the cool and fish deep where the chicken soup is selling cheap" in July. The pictures are charcoal sketches with blue and yellow, sometimes mixing to make green, adding a touch of color to the fun and imaginative scenes.

The rhymes and heavy alliteration create a poetic cadence that is as much fun to read aloud as it is to hear aloud! "It's so nice while slipping on the sliding ice to sip hot chicken soup with rice." Watch your little one smile and giggle while you read. It would be great fun to come up with a rhyming story of your own for your child's favorite foods. Perhaps something like, "In November when you were born, you started in on ears of corn, and ever since you've never stopped, it's corn all day until you pop!"