Thistle Broth

Kathy Corrigan is the journals editor at the OISE Press.

Written in the repetitive style of an old folk tale, Thistle Broth
describes the series of calamities to which young Tom must attend while
old Tom sits in their cottage, cold, hungry, and wet, directing his
son’s attempts to deal with each new disaster and urging him on to
“do the most important thing first.” Young Tom must learn, of
course, that the most important thing is often the one closest to hand,
and so the thistle broth of the title—which was to revive an ailing
moon—serves instead to warm the “soaked and shivering” father.

Thistle Broth is a book I put down with a sense that, really, I should
like it more than I do. The story has an engaging message and there are
many pleasant turns of phrase in its telling. The pictures are
beautifully bright, with strong, clear colors. So maybe the typeface and
design are a little ho-hum on the inside pages; the cover is just fine.
Yet the book never quite clicked for me, and it remained unopened on the
children’s bookshelf after only one reading.