Spoon

Utensils

by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

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.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens, Humor, Fiction, Storytime, Fantasy, Family

Other Format

First published April 7, 2009

About the author

SHORT BIO:

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was.
She divided her time.


NOT SO SHORT BIO:

Amy Krouse Rosenthal was a person who liked to make things.
Some things she liked to make include:

Children's books. (Little Pea, Spoon, DuckRabbit)
Grown-up books. (Textbook Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Encyclopedia of an Ordinary Life)
Short films. (The Beckoning of Lovely, The Money Tree)
Guided journals. (The Belly Book)
Something out of nothing. (see above)

A longtime contributor to WBEZ and to the TED conference,
Amy lived with her family in Chicago and online at whoisamy.com.

Reviews

[Debbie W. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Such a delightful read for young children! Spoon wishes he can be more like Fork, Knife and Chopsticks until he is gently guided to celebrate his uniqueness. I loved this story!

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the best children's books I've read so far this year!!! Rosenthal is probably much better known for her "Little Pea" story which I found cute but not altogether moving or inspiring. This story, however, is all that and more. It still has the humorous language and puns here and there, and of course it is ever so adorable and fun to see one's silverware come to life. But beyond that, it is a story that I think every child (and every adult, if they are being honest!) can relate to--the concern that one is not "special" and that everyone else has it better than they do in some way or another... What we don't always consider is how we look from other people's eyes and perhaps we are the subject of their envy. Little Spoon learns that he can do lots of splendid things that no one else can do, that we each have our own talents, and that life is best when we are content in our own skin--or silverware drawer.

[Lisa Vegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a terrific book addressing feelings of envy and of appreciating your own strengths and privileges. It’s about the very endearing character of Spoon. I thought this book was enchanting; it’s creative, it’s funny, it has really cute illustrations, and I could definitely identify with little Spoon.

I’m actually surprised that this book isn’t on a whole slew of banned book lists given the “spooning” that goes on at the end, even if it is with little Spoon and his parents.

[Laura · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoon! This cute little utensil made me “Awww” all over the place.

We all go through times of jealousy and envy in life. Spoon’s story reminds readers of all ages to celebrate what makes each of us special and unique. Knife can cut and chopstick always has a buddy, but as Mama Spoon points out….

”Your friends will never know the joy of diving headfirst into a bowl of ice cream.”

An adorable tale filled with warm faces, humor, and heartfelt messages. Spoon will cuddle right up to your reading heart. Come on! Spoons spooning! How sweet is that?! :D

[babyhippoface · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoon isn't happy. Everybody else, from Fork to Knife to Ladle, seems to have more fun than Spoon. What he doesn't know, though, is that Fork, Knife, and Ladle all think Spoon's life is better than theirs.

I used this book to help teach personification to 4th grade. It really worked! After I read it, I let each student choose one common object from a bag of things I'd gathered from around school (pencil, calculator, notepad, paper clip, penny, magnetic letter, round-tip scissors, etc.). I gave them two glue dots and two googly eyes to glue onto their object. Then they wrote a paragraph or two from the point of view of their object. While one reading of Spoon didn't transform them into brilliant writers, it did seem to help them gain some understanding of personification. I was really pleased, and will do this lesson again. Plus, their writings make a fun bulletin board. :)

[Abigail · Rating 4 out of 5]

An appealing picture-book exploration of the idea that "the grass is always greener on the other side," Amy Krouse Rosnethal's Spoon is the story of a young utensil who longs to be more like his friends. Knife gets to do exciting things like cut, Fork travels to interesting places, and Chopsticks are considered "cool and exotic." How can a simple spoon compete? Of course Knife, Fork and Chopsticks have their own ideas about what is desirable, and Spoon eventually sees the wisdom in his mother's assurance that he too has some wonderful tasks to perform.

Young readers will identify with Spoon's wistful longing to be somebody else, and find comfort in his mother's reassurance that he is someone special. Scott Magoon's whimsical illustrations skillfully convey the emotion of the story, and are the perfect counterpart to the simple but perceptive narrative. Rosenthal seems to be building a body of work that addresses common childhood concerns with sensitivity and humor, and I look forward to reading more of her work. I do wonder why it is that spoons, peas ( Little Pea ), owls ( Little Hoot ), and pigs ( Little Oink ) all seem to be boys in the author's imaginative landscape, but will hope that the feminine will enter the picture at some point.

[Tegan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read at VCFA for Picture Books 101 seminar.

[Diana Luna · Rating 5 out of 5]

In literature,characters face challenges and have other characters help them throughout. In my short story book “spoon” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal soon goes through the struggle of not loving who he is and believing that all his friends have it so much better than him. So, spoon learns to realize that he is more than he thinks by listening to some of the characters in the book.
The text shows us that you are more than you think.

A couple of characters that prove that the text shows us that you are more than you think is fork and knife. For example, in the text spoon is saying “knife is so lucky! He gets to cut or spread.” Spoon also says the same about fork. “And fork, fork is so lucky! She gets to go practically EVERYWHERE” “I bet she never goes stir-crazy like I do.” This is showing me that spoon thinks he is nothing compared to them (knife and fork) While on the other hand “spoon is luck!” said knife “he’s so funny and easygoing” “Everything’s so serious with me; no one’s ever allowed to be silly with me like they are with spoon” All of that said by knife. While fork is saying “spoon is so lucky! He gets to measure stuff. No one does that with me” This shows me that while spoon thinks his not special, his friends think he is. And while his friends think they’re not special, spoon thinks they’re amazing.
Another character that proves the text shows us that you are more than you think is spoons mom. I say this because while spoon is bragging about how special and amazing his friends are, mom agrees by saying things such as “knife is pretty spiffy, isn’t he?” and “fork does get out and make herself useful, doesn’t she?” This proves that spoons mom thinks his friends are special, but near the end of the book mom says to Spoon “You know, Spoon- I wonder if you realize just how lucky you are.” This shows that even if you think you are nothing compared to other friends, someone out there believes in you and thinks you are very special and lucky.
Finally, another character that proves us that the text shows us that you are more than you think is Chopsticks. I say this because chopstick was naming all these amazing things about spoon. While spoon was all jealous of chopstick.
In conclusion, you are more than you think so don’t let other bring you down. And don’t bring anyone down, bring them up just like spoons mom. The characters in my book showed that while you think your less than everybody they probably think you are amazing.

[Sarah Sammis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoon by Amy Krouse Rosenthal predates Spork by Kyo Maclear and there are obvious similarities. Both explore ethnicity, family, and self esteem through the world of the silverware drawer.

Spoon is just that, a spoon. He's a soup spoon that also likes cereal and ice cream. He though has noticed that knives, forks and chopsticks all get to do things he can't. He becomes so focused on their special talents that he begins to doubt his own.

What Spoon doesn't realize, but his mother does, is that the forks, knives and chopsticks recognize his talents just as he recognizes theirs. She eventually gets to explain that to him and it ends happily with some family snuggling.

While my daughter picked up on the self acceptance message, she had more fun pointing out all the different utensils. She's used to our own strange jumble of old and new utensils (including chopsticks). The utensils in Krouse's book are a similar jumble.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Spoon finishes bemoaning his fate--he's miserable because his life is just not as edgy as those of Knife and Fork--the rest of the kitchen utensils describe how they wish they could do what spoon does. The book is filled with puns and word play ("Fork...never goes stir-crazy like I do," unpaged). It's hard not to laugh when you're reading a picture book that pays tribute to "what it feels like to clink against the side of a cereal bowl," unpaged), and then later shows, a family of spoons all nestled together in bed. This one is a great readaloud plus providing good inspiration for creative writing.

[Sandra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lately Spoon has been thinking how his friends can do amazing things., while there's nothing special in what he does. Knife gets to cut. That's awesome. And Fork knows how to tame spaghetti. That's really skillful. And Chopsticks are so exotic!
But Knife, Fork and Chopsticks also think Spoon is very cool. And along the book Spoon will find out all the wonderful things that make him so special. Diving headfirst in a bowl of ice cream! Come on! That's hard to beat!
Very funny story with a beautiful message about valuing ourselves.

Age range: 3 to 7 years old.

Check out more children's book reviews in my Reviews in Chalk Blog!

[Dolly · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a interesting and creative book about being happy with who you are and celebrating our own uniqueness. A new twist on the concept of "the grass is always greener..." kind of moral. It's a great book to read aloud at bedtime.

[April Thompson Freeman · Rating 5 out of 5]

How cute are spoons spooning?!

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoons are musical instruments too. Google it!

[Annie K. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this with my little brother.

This is a really sweet book about learning to accept yourself. Definitely recommended to very young people.

[Sue · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my favorite children's books. Spoon is unhappy because the other utensils get to do cool stuff, but it turns out the other utensils think that spoon has a pretty cool life. At the end the family goes to bed and...spoons!! I'm not describing it very well, it's super clever and catchy and one of those books that teaches a lesson without being preachy. Highly recommend.

[Sage Kralovic · Rating 5 out of 5]

We love a pair of co-dependent chopsticks

[Krista-Marie Linegar]

Sweet little book

[Baby Bookworm · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review was originally written for The Baby Bookworm. Visit us for new picture books reviews daily!

Hello, friends! Our book today is Spoon, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Scott Magoon, a story about not letting greener pastures distract from one’s blessings.

Spoon is your average, everyday utensil. He lives in the cutlery drawer with his mom and dad, visits his Aunt Silver for dinner on Sundays, and has friends like Knife, Fork and Chopsticks. He’s mostly a happy sort, but sometimes Spoon feels like his friends have it better than him: Chopsticks are really unique, Knife gets to cut and spread, and Fork gets to do just about everything! It makes Spoon feel a bit crummy, but little does he know, his friends have their own jealousies of him as well!

Amy Krouse Rosenthal recently passed away, leaving behind a wonderful body of work that includes some fantastic children’s books, and this is a jewel among them. It’s about appreciating who you are, and we really enjoyed it. I loved that it made a point to say that EVERYONE has insecurities and envies others, noting that there’s nothing wrong about having those kinds of doubts; it’s how you choose to manage them that matters. It also encourages kids to think about their own talents and blessings before comparing themselves negatively to others, and remembering that differences are what make us all special and unique. The illustrations are adorable, and give a lot of life to a kitchen full of utensils. The length is perfect for baby bookworms, and JJ enjoyed this one quite a bit. We would definitely recommend it, and it’s Baby Bookworm approved!

Be sure to check out The Baby Bookworm for more reviews!

[Brittany Van · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disney-Hyperion, 2009, 32 pgs., Genre: Fiction, Grade level: PreK-2, GR level: K, Lexile level: 520L
Spoon is an inspiring picture books due to its positive perspective and outlook on life. This books reveals how an individual or spoon in this case can learn to love who they are. In addition, it helps the reader become aware of how everyone holds their own unique talents which makes them special. With this, the main character's loved ones show the main character that by changing his mindset, he is able to hold a more positive outlook on life. The author demonstrates a difficult conversation and topic through the use of everyday utensils to help young children comprehend the lesson being taught in the story.
Teaching ideas:
This is a picture book that should be taught and talked about. It would work well for a read aloud for a whole class in the elementary age group setting or as a partner read between students. You can easily create a lesson on acceptance to go along with this story. For this book, I would teach discuss what acceptance means to you as an individual as well as what it means to those around you. After forming a brief discussion, I would have students partner read this story and take brief notes on a Post-It on different examples of acceptance found in the book. After giving time for the groups to read, we would then come together in a class discussion around the topic of acceptance. Here we would cover how spoon accepted himself as well as how characters accepted one another. Once we had finished the class discussion, I would have student write an opinion piece as to which piece of silverware they would like to be and why they would choose that piece. For this writing piece, I would have students give atleast four examples of why they chose that specific piece of silverware. Once students were finished with their writing, I would remind them that it is important that they accept the silverware they chose and each piece of silverware has a unique purpose then have them share out their opinion writing.
NYS ELA CCS:
RL.4.2, W.4.1b

[Heidi-Marie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I have a new favorite book! This is Fabulous!!!! Especially for me, whose favorite utensil is a spoon (and has been since I was 4). The humor on every single page is priceless. And it will still be hilarious to read at a preschool storytime even if they don't catch on to some of the humor. They will enjoy the illustrations and still like the idea of a spoon as the main character. Love it! I must own.

3/13/10 The storytime group enjoyed this. And I had even more fun reading it aloud than I did reading it on my own. Must use for another storytime soon!

2/22/12 I thought I'd try this on the preschool crowd. Both groups got it pretty well. Some of the humor was definitely over their heads, but they got the idea of things each utensil could do and they enjoyed answering my questions of what each utensil could do or was doing in the picture. (So glad they are familiar with chopsticks, even if they've never used them!) They liked seeing what spoon could do that his friends could not. And even though I thought the ending a little "blah" for preschool age, they seemed to like it, too. Parents especially loved the book. I think the humor of the spork may have been missed, but I still caught it. :-)

5/7/14 I know the group got what I expected them to get. But it was the quiet group, so not too much response. Still, it worked. And the adults liked it.

6/22/16 Used in S is for them. They liked it. I had them do the actions with the different utensils. Then at the end I asked which utensils they loved. Very good.

6/6/18 We own this, so it has been chosen a few times for bedtimes. Recently it was the Family Story. Enjoyed by all.

[Sharon Tyler · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoon, written by Amy Krouse Rosenthal and illustrated by Scott Magoon, is a charming story about a young spoon that thinks everyone else has life better than him, the knife gets to cut and spread, the fork gets to do so many things, and chopsticks are just so neat. Meanwhile his friends think that spoon has it pretty good too. He gets to be silly, measure things, dive into ice cream, and all sorts of other fun things. After his mother tucks him in, and reminds him of the neat things spoons can do, he cannot fall asleep and snuggles in with his parents and gets ready for sweet dreams.

Spoon is a charming story that kids, and adults, can relate to. Everyone has moments when they think the grass is greener elsewhere, or the life is better in another section of the utensil drawer. Some cute little jokes are peppered through the story, like Spoon mentioning that the fork does not go 'stir crazy' and part of the spoon's family history when his great grandmother ran off with a dish. The illustrations are perfect and add some additional humor and emotion to the utensil characters.

I highly recommend Spoon, and think that it will entertain and open the way to discussions about jealousy and appreciating how special everyone is. I enjoyed this book so much that I am planning on checking out the author's other books, particularly Little Pea and Chopsticks.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

9 July 2009

While best for younger, not-yet-reading kids, this is a picture book we still appreciate. Mostly because we're TICK fans and enjoying gratuitously yelling "Spoon!"

***

7 March 2013

Last week I checked out Chopsticks, and we got a kick out of that, so I decided to go for more by the same author. After running our errands and eating some supper we got home, Veronica went to the computer, and Natasha and I settled in on the sofa with a blanket and some books. At 11 she is much to old to check out picture books; these days she's cruising the YA shelves upstairs. But if the books just happen to be there, on the sofa, with me, she's delighted to read them.

So we did. And we speculated about what kind of spoons we would be. And she pointed out that the family picture sadly did not include a citrus spoon.

I love these moments.

Library copy.

[Amanda Gary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoon is a creative and inspiring picture book about embracing who you are and finding the good in others as well as in yourself. Each page has great dialogue between the characters, and the illustrations match the character's feeling which really allows readers to grasp the author's purpose. Spoon is a great read aloud for all ages, however grades 1-3 would enjoy reading this book independently. This book can be used in the classroom to help teach students the importance of accepting others. I used this book as a read aloud for my second graders to talk about why it is important to love who you are and build off your strengths so you can be the best you in our classroom, for others, and in the real world. I chose this book as a WOW book because it is so important for children to accept who they are in today's culture. We try so hard to fit in that we are to afraid to stand out if it means there is a chance someone might not like us for who we are. Spoon does a great job of teaching everyone that you are special no matter what.

[Matias Martinez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Name: Matias Martinez
Date: 4/23/2019
Room: 204
SPOON by Amy Krouse Rosenthal

Have you ever thought that you weren’t as important or as lucky as your friends?
Well, in the story “Spoon” by Amy Krouse Rosenthal, Spoon also thinks he isn’t as cool or as lucky as his friends. Spoon is insecure of himself.
One reason Spoon is insecure of himself is when he said that his friends he shows this in page 10. He said, “It’s just that . . . I don’t know . . . All my friends have it so much better than me.”. Just by reading this sentence you can already tell the insecurity that he feels inside of himself. He thinks that he isn’t that cool or important as the others.
Another reason Spoon is insecure is because he made his friends sound more important than him. Take his friend Knife for example. Spoon thought he was so lucky because he got to cut and he also got to spread stuff on bread like jelly or peanut butter. -

[Quasar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good book, but I hesitate to say that it's great. It makes more silverware jokes than I think most kids who can digest the book's message would understand. The spoon is jealous of the lives of other types of silverware because he wonders what it must be like to do the things that knives, forks, and chopsticks get to do. We never actually see spoon notice that his friends envy his ability to do things that only spoons can do, which would be a great place for learning how to deal with a conversation in which people are trying to imagine living each other's lives. The all-wise parents are instead the placating force, which is sometimes useful, but in this case I think it's just used a reason to get to the unspoken punch line, where the family all "spoons" to sleep. I liked it, and will probably try it out on some kids, but I'm not all over it.

[Kasey Sparks · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think as a student I would love this book. I would enjoy listening to this story and then looking in a spoon at my reflection. I think it would be fun to discuss with a partner great things about each other. I think it would also be a good way to build each other up and to let each other know that they are important. This is a fun and entreating book to read for students.

I think as a teacher this would be a great book to read to students. This would teach the students to be happy with the way they are. This book is about a spoon and he can't help but be jealous of his friends. The teacher could let the students do a spoon feeling activity. They could cut out a picture of a spoon and let them think about great things about themselves. Then after thinking about it, they could write down great things about each other on a spoon.

[Harper · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoon is such a cute book to read. It makes you think about all the utensils and is also a character building book. I thoroughly enjoyed the lesson attached with the book.
I definitely would want to us this book in my classroom. It is great for character building time! It would also be a good book to read at the beginning of the year to make the students feel comfortable with who they are. It’s also a good book to help if you’re having any bullying issues in your classroom.

[Jenny · Rating 3 out of 5]

Spoon points out to his mom that fork and knife can do things he can't. Spoon feels a bit envious. Meanwhile, fork and knife are thinking of the things that spoon can do that they can't. His mom gently points out some amazing things that Spoon can do and spoon feels more content. A nice lesson in recognizing our own gifts and that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. Some cute humor is added as well.

[Peacegal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Comparisons to the similar cutlery-themed Spork are inevitable. Spoon’s illustrations weren’t on par with the laugh-out-loud drawings of Spork, but at least Spoon didn’t have a huge, terrifying infant at the end.