"And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon" by Janet Stevens and Susan Stevens Crummel, Illustrated by Janet Stevens

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Bibliographic Citation

Title: And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon

Author: Janet Stevens & Susan Stevens Crummel

Illustrator: Janet Stevens

Year of Publication: 2001

Publisher City: San Diego

Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.

ISBN: 0152022988

Author Website: http://www.janetstevens.com/ & http://www.susanstevenscrummel.com/

Illustrator Website: http://www.janetstevens.com/

Media Used for Artwork: Watercolor, Colored Pencil

Awards

·         California Young Reader Medal (Picture Books for Older Readers), 2004

·         American Library Association’s Notable Book, 2002

·         Child Magazine's "Best Books of 2001"

·         Colorado Book Award, 2002

·         Irma S. and James H. Black Honor Book, 2001

Annotation

The Dish and the Spoon have run away from their rhyme.  The Cat with his fiddle, the laughing Dog, and the jumping Cow set out to find their lost comrades so that they can be read tonight.

Personal Reaction

                What happens when the rhymes everyone knows gets turn upside down?  This picture book gets written.  Stevens and Crummel take the classic Mother Goose rhymes and fairy tales all children know and reworks them.  The reboot makes an exciting adventure.  Older readers will appreciate this story because it is maturing the rhymes and fairy tales they grew up for them to enjoy.  It shows how they can continue to read stories that they know and love, but in different ways.  It would be interesting if for an assignment students rewrite a classic tale they know and love after reading this book.

                The use of illustrations give readers a visual cue of the characters feelings as they journey through the world of fairy tales and Mother Goose rhymes.  Stevens did a great job of adding humor to her work.  For example, when the trio travels to the Big Bad Wolf’s house the reader sees a fake sheep costume hanging up and the Wolf wearing an apron and bunny slippers.  It is interesting to see how Stevens interpreted the characters that readers will know so well.  She took the time to personify each of them so that they are more then the brief lines from a childhood rhyme.