Ken Marantz and Sylvia Marantz (Children's Literature)
A young spoon becomes the main character in a pun-filled adventure to which any youngster can relate. In a necktie, Spoon is on his best behavior visiting his very proper Aunt Silver. He enjoys the story of his great-grandmother who ran away with the dish. But one day he is blue, feeling that the others, like Knife and Fork and even Chopsticks, have everything better than he has. They, on the other hand, think that he is the lucky one, giving some good and amusing reasons. That night, his mom tries to tell him how lucky he is, reminding him of all the good things he can do. As he thinks it over, he realizes what he really needs. He snuggles in bed with his mother and father, spoon-fashion, for “Sweet dreams.” Colored line drawings are all that are needed to shape the characters of this simple story. The characters are introduced on the jacket, with skinny arms and legs, faces with eyes and eyebrows, and slits for mouths. They appear in action on a white background with simple props. The lesson is a clear one. 2009, Hyperion Books/Disney Book Group, $15.99. Ages 3 to 8.

Mary Hynes-Berry (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. 2009, Hyperion Books, $15.99. Ages 4 to 7.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, March 1, 2009 (Vol. 77, No. 5))
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! 2009, Disney Hyperion, 40p, $15.99. Category: Picture book. Ages 3 to 8. © 2009 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Mel Laudenslager (Kutztown University Book Review, Fall 2009)
I absolutely loved this book. Spoon is a little “bent out of shape” because he thinks his friends Knife, Fork and Chopsticks have it so much better than he does because of all the things they can do that he can’t. What he doesn’t realize is that he can do a lot of great things himself. I think there is a great message in this book to be thankful for what one is able to do and not focus on the things one cannot do. I do have to say though that Scott Magoon’s illustrations really do make the story. My favorite scene is when Spoon is listening to a bedtime story about his “adventurous great-grandmother who fell in love with a dish and ran off to a distant land” and his bed consists of a napkin mattress and sugar packet pillows. The ending is adorable, although children might not understand the humor of it. I would highly recommend this book to have in a library and it might be a useful tool for a young child with confidence issues. Category: Picture Book.. 2009, Disney-Hyperion Books, $15.99. Ages 5 to 7.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2009)
Spoon, a humble young utensil, feels disenfranchised: Knife "gets to cut," Fork "gets to go practically EVERYWHERE," etc.; meanwhile, little does Spoon know that he's the object of the other utensils' envy. This tastefully punning (Spoon goes "stir-crazy") tale of envy and, finally, self-acceptance has improbably wide appeal, thanks to illustrations that somehow manage to anthropomorphize a clutch of cutlery. Category: Picture Books. 2009, Hyperion, 32pp, 15.99. Ages 4 to 9. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.