Customer Reviews

It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel (Picture Puffin Books)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The illustrations are excellent-colorful and imaginative. The text is somewhat difficult to read aloud in an interesting manner. While the short stories are clever and creative, they are too complex for an average child to comprehend in one reading. The concept of using the absurd to illustrate the proper is slightly abused in this book. The inclusion of the word "stupid" was in poor taste. After laughing about calling someone stupid, it is difficult to explain why we shouldn't call someone that and still retain any credibility. I was disapointed with the book.

This book provided my son's preschool class with laughter and excitement. They were glued to me as I read this to the class. My children want it read to them all the time. My five year old loves to read it by himself and that is something he is really proud of, as well as I am.

My 4-year old son was far less interested in the stories than the pictures (which are great and very detailed). However, the lessons emphasize good manners (waiting until your turn to speak, talking with your mouth full), although some are probably a bit lost on a 4-year old (i.e. how to answer the telephone politely, introducing your friend to your family memebers). I'm not overly impressed with this book in general.

My 5 year old was having trouble deciding which bedtime story to choose when I began reading "It's a Spoon, Not a Shovel" outloud. Within seconds, the delightful words and outrageous answers had caught his attention, and he snuggled in with me to read the rest of the story. He never once lost interest, answered all the questions correctly (not a great feat, given the choices, but he felt successful nonetheless!!), and was thoroughly intrigued by searching for the not-so-easy to find letters. Great book!

My 4- and 7-year old boys giggled their way through this great lesson in good manners. The pictures are adorable (we had bought the book because we liked Mark Buehner's other book illustrations so much), and even older kids will enjoy finding the cleverly-hidden answers to the "quiz questions." A very nice way to reinforce what Momma always taught you - and a great gift book to subtly convey to not-quite-polite kids and their parents the proper way to do things!

Illustrations are gorgeous. Quiz-format lets a child confirm what he or she has learned -- a uniquely positive way to reinforce good manners. Humor makes this fun. Looking for the letters in the pictures makes this even more interactive and draws you into the pictures. The text is a little challenging to read aloud, but enjoyed by children nonetheless, and outweighed by all the positives. My children have enjoyed this immensely. Vocabulary and concepts seem best for children over 4 years old.

My five-year old loved this book so much (he's read it before) that he insisted in reading it to the end-- even though the text and letter-search activity take quite some time-- AND despite the fact that we had already been reading for an hour.

Exceptionally entertaining to children and valuable yet humorous book. I've given several of these as gifts after my own daughter could not put it down. It's a happy yet "hum... let's think about this -- can you help me solve this?" type of book for kids and will hold their attention for quite a while! I also shared it with many classes as an elementary substitute teacher and all the kids were excited and mesmerized by the photos, multiple choice questions and competition to solve the puzzles in the picture. I believe every library, family, and every school should have this book on hand!

As a child, this book was my favorite. Now, I'm thirteen and in my quest to either find my old copy or buy a new one. When I was younger (three-ish, maybe four?) My mom read it out-loud to me. It became one of the first books I was reading. I had endless laughs and the illustrations were ingenious. I would definitely choose this books for more advanced children though, because some don't grasp the content nearly as easily as others.

Hot hula hoops, this book is brilliant! It's a fantastic way to teach children manners while introducing them to the concept of multiple choice. The multiple choice options are hilarious and my only complaint is that I hadn't thought up this book myself! Yes, the word "stupid" is used once but you could just substitute a different word.
It's unfortunate that this book is now out of print. I would have loved to have given away copies as gifts!