On Top of Spaghetti

Nursery Treasure Books

by Tom Glazer, Paul Brett Johnson

This favorite children's song, belted out around campfires for over forty years, is now a rollicking, sing-along book!

On top of spaghetti, All covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball, When somebody SNEEZED . . .

This well-known song is a hilarious reminder that when events don't go quite as planned, they can get awfully silly. Paul Brett Johnson's colorful language and folly-filled illustrations are a surefire recipe for a lip-smacking storytime. Served up with the original music and lyrics it's sure to bring readers (and singers) of all ages to the table clamoring for more.

Genres: Picture Books, Food, Childrens, Fiction, Storytime, Humor, Animals

32 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1966

Reviews

[Mavis’s Dad · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book based on a non-sensical song that is as charming as can be. It fills in the blanks of the song with creative illustrations and preposterous scenarios.

Moral: When life gives you a snotty smushed meatball, grow a tree of fresh meatballs

Length: The song stretches out the short story nicely.

Favorite Line: “Pardon my meatball.”

Overall impression: This book is a gift to children everywhere. Let your imaginations run wild as you and your child sprint to recover that snotty meatball with each page turn. And enjoy singing at the top of your lungs to a genuine campfire classic.

[Kerry · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great for our spaghetti story time and the kids loved to sing with me and say "Achoo" after every sneeze...but it was annoying having the lingo and accents for this reader.

[JustOneMoreBook.com · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not much impresses young listeners more than their reading adult opening up a book and belting out a song. Add an action-packed story, a honky tonk narrator and engaging, humourous illustrations and this campfire standard will make you a storytime rock star.

You can listen in on our chat about this book on our Just One More Book! Children's Book Podcast.

[Bethany · Rating 5 out of 5]

We borrowed this from our library and were so sad when we had to return it. What a fun and silly book. It is a great way to incorporate singing in to your reading time. As a music major, I can't help but be a fan of that.

We plan on adding this to our personal library, ASAP!

[Jay · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you can get this out of print version illustrated by Rob Barber, it’s really special!

For a highly stylized children’s book, this version has the most wonderful illustrations and the artist used a lot of cool color theory to make the paintings. If you like fine art, I would get it just for the pictures!

For example, every single meatball is heavily stylized as a textured sphere with an appropriately colored core shadow. The meatball on the table has a reddish core shadow, and the meatballs on the tree have green core shadows. This is rare for children’s illustration! Even if you didn’t notice these details or aren’t into art theory, the paintings are really memorable and captivating.

I found it actually funny that the artist took his sphere core shadow shading so very seriously. It makes me laugh when we read the book in addition to the funny story.

[Carlee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was my absolute favorite story growing up. What I didn't realize is that it actually teaches a great message. It teaches that sometimes in life things will go wrong, but you just have to learn to roll with it. It also shows that sometimes things you thought were terrible could turn out to be great.

[Miss Pippi the Librarian · Rating 4 out of 5]

A classic parody in picture book form WITH the tune printed on the pages! This can be shelved with the golden oldies collection. Still entertaining and the adults sang along at storytime! Classic hand drawn illustrations with three colors inside the book - red, black, and white.

2024 storytime theme: Pasta

Reviewed from a library copy.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 5 out of 5]

My kindergarten teacher read this to our class, and I was enthralled with it and with the song, which became a staple of long family care rides. I'm pretty sure I found a copy exactly like this one for my own children 30 years ago. There are many different versions, but this is by far my favorite!

[Elaine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Huge hit at pre-school story time! Most fun if you sing the song, both during and after the story!

[Kenson and kirra · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was fun to read out loud and sing. i had never heard some of the ending verses of the song so it was a suprise to me. (my son made me read it twice--age 5)

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

My 2 year old wasn’t entertained. Will try it again when he’s older. 1st and Kinder would be perfect.

[Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great picture book of the song.

[Juan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cool book and fun story

[Robin · Rating 5 out of 5]

So cute to read with little ones...

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Used for Food Storytime. Cute version, in telling I gave the dog a Southern accent!

[Lorellie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute illustrations, but it lost me at a meatball tree.

[Leslie · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Cute!

[Nolan Foley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun book to make kids laugh and sing to!

[Andrés · Rating 2 out of 5]

Yes, I'd say this book visually shows what the song says. Art style is ok; I can't put my finger on the name of it. Song critique: a meatball tree + spaghetti sauce tree sounds awesome, actually?

[Anthony Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

On Top of Spaghetti is a lyrical story that will keep young children engaged. The song is easy to remember and children will find confidence while rereading it on their own. The fun loving illustrations will grab the child's interest and they will want to keep reading. This children's book is deserving of five stars.

[Dolly · Rating 4 out of 5]

When we first borrowed this book from the library, I figured that it might just be an illustrated version of the song. But I was pleasantly surprised by the entertaining story that accompanied the ditty. Of course we sang it all together (completely off-key!) and laughed at the vagrant meatball as it rolls all over. It's a fun story and a classic song, with fun illustrations too. We really

[Sandie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this with my daughter the other day and it was such a fun book!! The way its written just makes you want to use different voices for the characters and of course the song is great!! We had a lot of fun singing the verses throughout the book and then singing the whole song in the back of the book!! A very, very fun book for young children!!

[Jasmine · Rating 3 out of 5]

On top of spaghetti was about a chef who made some spaghetti but everything went wrong after he made it. First his meatball ran away after someone snezzed. This book was verry rhythmitic and incorparated adjectives. This will help students in a classroom learn how to use rhyming words and what they are.

[Danielle Boccio · Rating 3 out of 5]

I remember one of my grade school teachers reading On Top of Spaghetti to my class. It wasn't this version though. Although I absolutely love the song, I actually didn't care for the way the narrator tells a story but then randomly breaks into song. I also didn't love all the animals in the book. I think people would have worked better. LOVE the song, though!

[Colleen McCormack · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is an easy read and rhyme scheme that's really fun to read! I enjoyed reading it with some students and even laughed along with them. The back of the book even has a little song in the back of the book that students can learn to sing along with. Very neat book that incorporates music, which is sometimes forgotten.

[Jackie · Rating 4 out of 5]

On Top of Spaghetti all covered with cheese, I lost my poor meatball when somebody sneezed...Poor Yodeler Jones can't quite hold onto that meatball. But just when he thinks all is lost, the silliest thing happens to make his "Yodeler Jones's Spaghetti Emporium & Musciale" a HUGE success.

[Paris · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is good for PreK-2nd grade. It allows room for text-to-self connections and can be engaging for young students. I would ask questions like, "could you really sneeze a meatball of the top of your spaghetti?". This book also includes songs.

[Renae Williams]

This book is entertaining and it is told by a dog. I enjoyed all of the animal characters and their outfits were so funny. Children will love singing the song that is repeated throughout the story i found it getting stuck in my head.

[Brooke Newberry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book when you're trying to incorporate more singing into your storytime. The book contains a funny story and a song that will take days to get our of your head. Plus, you storytime kids have likely heard it before and will join in during your singing.

3/27/2012 & 3/29/2012

[Lizzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a hilarious take on a classic kids tune. The 4-6 year old crowd adored the mix of singing and reading. Yodelor has some great inner dialogue. In my mind, Yodelor sounded a lot like FogHorn Leghorn and luckily the kids loved my attempted impression.