Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Scott Magoon (Illustrator)

From the Publisher

Meet Spoon.

He's always been a happy little utensil.  But lately, he feels like life as a spoon just isn't cutting it.  He thinks Fork, Knife, and The Chopsticks all have it so much better than him.  But do they?  And what do they think about Spoon?  A book for all ages, Spoon serves as a gentle reminder to celebrate what makes us each special. 

Publishers Weekly

Young Spoon lives a fairly happy life with a large extended family (including a ladle and a very fancy Aunt Silver), but he can't help being a bit jealous of some of his friends. Knife, for example, "is so lucky! He gets to cut, he gets to spread." Not to mention Chopsticks: "Everyone thinks they're really cool and exotic! No one thinks I'm cool or exotic." Spoon's mother doesn't try to change his mind, but reacts neutrally. Outside conversations let readers know that Spoon is being envied right back: "Spoon is so lucky!" sigh the Chopsticks. "We could never function apart." At bedtime, Spoon's mom offers encouragement ("Your friends will never know the joy of diving headfirst into a bowl of ice cream") then invites him into the big bed-to spoon, of course. The talented Magoon (Mystery Ride!) gives the utensils plenty of personality, with wide eyes and expressive antlike appendages, and Rosenthal's (Little Pea) skillful storytelling moves along briskly. The humorous but earnest message about valuing one's own talents comes through loud and clear. Ages 2-6. (Apr.)

Children's Literature

A key issue in early childhood classrooms is how to support young children in being happy with being themselves. Very often books about such themes are fairly heavy-handed. However, Amy Rosenthal's latest offers a wonderfully offbeat way to look at issues of sameness and difference. Little Spoon comes from a large and diverse family. He has been quite happy with himself as a utensil but as he thinks about his friends—fork, knife and chopsticks—he begins to worry that somehow they might be better than he is. However, once Spoon is able to hear how the others see the very special things that he is able to do, he is so pleased that he finds it hard to sleep. That is, until he does one of the things that spoons do best—snuggle up next to a fellow spoon. Scott Magoon's drawings are somewhat reminiscent of Mo Willems' style, but they are perfect vehicle for with this story. Children who get to know this story are likely to never look at their everyday eating implements in the same way again. Reviewer: Mary Hynes-Berry

School Library Journal

PreS-Gr 2

It seems that young Spoon is having feelings of inadequacy since he cannot do what other pieces of cutlery can do. He cannot slice like Knife, or pierce things like Fork, and he's certainly not exotic like Chopsticks. Apparently this is a drawer-wide problem because the knives, forks, and even chopsticks wish they could do what Spoon can do: bang, plunge into a bowl of ice cream, or clink against a bowl of cereal. Soothed by his mother with these thoughts, he "felt so alive!" So he hops over the drawer divider to snuggle with his parents. Although this is a nice try at creativity, the story asks too much from its readers for too little payoff. There are many wonderful stories about overcoming feelings of jealousy and reinforcing self-esteem. This is not one of them.-Jane Marino, Great Neck Library, New York

Kirkus Reviews

This witty tale evokes a strong sense of family with an underlying message of self-acceptance. Young Spoon is one of a large clan that ranges from measuring spoons to ladles, from refined Aunt Silver to elaborate commemorative spoons to a spork who stands uncertainly to one side. Spoon, with his head on a sugar-packet pillow, enjoys a bedtime story "about his adventurous great-grandmother, who fell in love with a dish and ran off to a distant land." Feeling "blue" (he's perched on a bowl of blueberries), he suffers an identity crisis. Perhaps he'd rather be Knife, who gets to cut and spread, or Fork, who gets to twirl spaghetti, or the "cool and exotic" Chopsticks? But the others envy Spoon as well, for the special things that only a spoon can do, such as measure and relax in a hot cup of tea. Rosenthal takes the daffy concept and runs with it, gracefully folding her lesson into the whimsy. Magoon's expressive line drawings reveal the feelings of the various utensils with wonderful humor and pleasingly muted colors. Hurrah for Spoon! (Picture book. 3-8)

Product Details