This story tells the reader what happened after the end of the classic line "and the dish ran away with the spoon". The story has the rest of the nursery rhymes cast scouting through other Mother Goose stories in search for the remainder of their ensemble. Filled with humor and laughs, it is sure to make the reader think about the "what ifs" of other classic stories. ( )

This was a very cute book. I really liked all of the jokes and puns throughout the book. I was laughing while I was reading the book. It was really cool that they brought other nursery rhymes and children's stories into the book. It was really cool and made the book more fun. I honestly think that children of any age would like this book. I think it has something for children of all ages. The jokes that the young children might not get, the older children will and it will make it more enjoyable for them. I also thought it was cute and funny that they rewrote the rhyme at the end saying that the "And the dish stayed at home with the spoon." ( )

This is the earliest book of Steven's that I read and it seems like this book is either a little bit of a dud or she was still developing her style. There is a lot of clever content here--She connects many of the nursery rhymes to create a fantasy world were each interact and know each other. I do feel like that theme is over done though. Knowledge of each nursery rhyme would be needed for the book to make sense or at least be appreciated correctly. There is a lot of text with illustrations that seem to only portray the situation rather than assist it. There is one page in the book that reminds me of her other work. It is where spoon and dish fall with sound effects. I am curious to see if this is from Stevens or Crummel. There are also several pages where the text loops around an illustration in the middle of the page so the words are top, right, bottom, and then left oriented so it's very hard to read. ( )

the classic story of the dish and the spoon
1 book

And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon by Janet Stevens is an interesting twist on the classic nursery rhyme. I think this is a cute story about how the dish and the spoon never returned and how the cat, dog, and cow had to go out to find the missing friends. However, I do think this story is a bit too long to keep the focus and attention of young readers/listeners. I even had a hard time staying focused while reading because this story is so lengthy. I thought the pictures were nice with good detail, however I think I would have liked it better if brighter, more vivid colors were used. ( )