The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon Paperback – March 10, 2015

This is an odd children's book. It's enjoyable, but it always feels a bit off kilter. My son absolutely loved it and we read it to him over and over and over.

Follow the "new and improved" adventures of dish and spoon as they experience supreme highs and dreadful lows. But fear not, gentle reader - love conquers all.

The illustrations in this story are just as engaging as those in Mini Grey's "Biscuit Bear", but this story seems to be missing parts. The story jumps from one part to another without clear and sensible transitions, as if chapters are missing (if this were a longer story). Perhaps the author presupposes that the reader knows more about the nursery rhyme than actually exists, but more detail in the story would be necessary to make this story even half as well-developed as it should be to deserve the fantastic illustrations. I would not recommend this book for parents who like a good, well-developed storyline, but instead you should look for "Biscuit Bear" by the same author.

It's a little confusing to explain to a four-year-old why the dish went to prison.

My son loves this book!!! We were checking it out at the library for a year, before we realized that we could buy it on Amazon! A great children's book!

It's basically supposed to be a continuation of the rhyme, “Hey diddle diddle/The cat and the fiddle/The cow jumped over the moon/The little dog laughed to see such fun/And the dish ran away with the spoon.”The dish and the spoon sail to America, get in vaudeville, spend beyond their means, borrow money from bad people who try to kill them, and end up robbing a bank. The dish breaks, and the spoon gets thrown in jail for 25 years. When the spoon gets out of jail, it finds the dish again, and then they go back into performing acrobatics.I'm not really sure a kid would understand this book. It seems like really adult themes for children. Not that the children would be upset by them; they're not bad themes. They're just beyond the comprehension of most children.I'm not really sure who this is written for. It kind of seems like trying to capitalize on the popularity of The Stinky Cheese Man, but it really doesn't live up to that. It's not funny. It's kind of depressing, almost.For more children's book reviews, see my Amazon profile for my website.

Mini Grey, likes to do things a little differently. You would expect no less from a woman named after a car, I suppose. Back in the day, Grey's first picture book, "The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be" got her a bit of casual interest by taking a pea's perspective. Her second title, "Traction Man Is Here", roped itself a highly prestigious Boston-Globe Book Award and presented to us the too-often dangerous world of an action figure. Now something entirely different has come along the pike and Grey has given us a book that's primed to knock our socks off yet again. We all know that old "Hey Diddle Diddle" nursery rhyme. You know the one I mean. With the moon loving cow, the fiddle-playing cat, and the dog who finds it all a gas? We've heard it all before, but what really happened to the dish and the spoon? Remember how in the poem they just took off without so much as a toodle-oo? For decades upon decades illustrators and writers have speculated as to the last known location of the intrepid duo. Now, at long last, we have the answer. They fled to New York City and their story is not necessarily a pretty one.It happened one night. The record was playing, the moon was full, and Dish and Spoon just took off for parts unknown. A quick dive into the ocean, a sail across the sea, and before you know it the twosome find themselves in the Big Apple! It doesn't take long for the pair to hit it big on the vaudeville circuit and for a while it's all fame, fortune, and glamour. Unfortunately they go a little crazy with their dough and before you know it they've been replaced by a hot new act. Trying to get some money from a shady crew of knives, hammers, and tongs just gets our heroes into even deeper trouble. They attempt to rob a bank to pay back their debts but the Dish gets cracked and the spoon serves some time. Years later both have been deported back to Great Britain and in a junk shop the old lovers are reunited once again. And you know, there are people out there who have never seen Dish and Spoon tricks before. It's a whole new world and our heroes are back on top.Grey first honed her talents for animating inanimate objects in "Traction Man Is Here" and in this book she goes all out on the details. Did you notice that when Dish and Spoon get their first glimpse of Lady Liberty she isn't sporting her usual greenish glow but instead a glorious coppery color? Did you see the evil knives and tongs going down a carnival slide near the end? How about the reappearing Liberty Head nickel that crops up from time to time? When Dish and Spoon are trolling about in their new jalopy, a nickel on the crest of the car identifies the year as 1933. The Liberty Head nickel motif was one of the more interesting and obvious details of the book, but there were plenty of others to catch the eye as well. Reading this book through several times you begin to learn more and more about the details of the Dish and Spoon escape. The cat with a fiddle, for example, seems to be the fellow who inspires the two to run away in the first place, bringing them together again at the end. As with all her books, Grey packs in the images and multiple storylines in new and interesting combinations.The book is slightly more dour than its predecessor, "Traction Man Is Here". In that book, the most depressing moment in the story was when our hero couldn't defeat the villain because everyone was laughing at him in his bright green jumper. In "Dish and Spoon" one hero is cracked and sent to recuperate in Britain while the other does time for his crime. Still, it makes for a far more satisfying ending and I can honestly say that I've never read a picture book that presents spoon-dish love in such a sympathetic and truly touching manner.Of course, Grey isn't the first picture book author to speculate on the whereabouts of Baby-We-Were-Born-To-Run Dish and Spoon. Just back in 2001 Janet Stevens came out with, "And the Dish Ran Away With the Spoon". And while a lovely looking item and all, Stevens' creation cannot touch Grey's when it comes to pure bonified moxy. Grey brings to life the 1930s and 50s with more flair than you'd ever think possible. If you want to introduce young children to Depression-era America, or just need a couple of fractured fairy-tale/nursery rhyme picture books to pad out your collection, this should be one of the first items to purchase for your list. A tale of adventure, sterling silver, and true love. Fine fine cutlery indeed.

A sassy little book with great illustrations. It tells the story of what happens when the dish ran away with the spoon and their roller coaster life of show-biz, crime and redemption. Great material for class work. A really good scheme of work is available through Take one Book/Just Imagine website.

I discovered this in the library with my then 3 year-old son, and he loved it.The illustrations are great - really unusual, yet engaging and the story is great. My son thought it was hilarious at the end when Dish and Spoon were reunited, and Dish is self-conscious. I thought it was beautiful, and it still brings a tear to my eye!

This is the weirdest children's book I have ever read - I think it appeals more to adults than children. It's a very strange story WARNING Spolier ahead - it has the dish and the spoon, take up gambling, commit armed robbery, get into debt with money lenders and then end up in jail. Bit of an odd story to tell kids, yes I love the movie references as an adult and I love the poetry of the writing but not sure it's something which my baby will grow to love but only time will tell!

A super book! Children have loved finding out what happened after the dish ran away with the spoon!

good book,bought it for my 6 year old to support his school work.