We have been having so much fun participating in the Virtual Book Club for Kids! This month’s author, Amy Krouse Rosenthal, was new to us and we excited to see her book Spoon in the Scholastic book order last month.
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Spoon is the story of a little spoon who begins to fret that his friends, Knife, Fork, and Chopsticks, have it so much better than him. His friends think he is the lucky one, but he can only see the things that they can do–until his mom reminds him of all of the things that make him special.
The kids LOVED the story and had no trouble picking up the theme or recalling story details. It was easy to see how much they were able to identify with Spoon’s situation.
After reading the story we took turns looking into a spoon and talked about how you don’t see yourself correctly–you are upside down and misshapen. Then we flipped the spoon around and noticed it was much easier to see youself clearly.
I pointed out how it was the same for Spoon in the story. He couldn’t see all the great things about his life until his mom pointed them out, she was the one who “flipped the spoon over” for him. We talked about times when we have felt the same way as little Spoon and what we could do about it next time it happened. They decided that instead of complaining about what they didn’t have they could think of all the things they did have.
We made a spoon for each kid to help them remember some of the great things about themselves. The kids brainstormed special things about each other and I wrote them on a paper spoon. They decorated their spoons and we hung them on their bedroom doors.
The best part is that the lesson didn’t end there. Later, when we were running errands and one of the kids began to complain, we “spooned” her! I said, “Uh oh! You sound like little Spoon. Let’s flip this around and think about all of the great things you do have instead of worrying about what someone else is getting.” The other two joined in and before you know it everyone was smiling again. (Did I mention how much we loved this book?!?)
This was our first Amy Krouse Rosenthal book and we were definitely impressed. I can’t wait to read more!
Be sure to follow the Virtual Kids Book Club on facebook for all of the fun:
I LOVE LOVE LOVE this! What a perfect extension of the book!
Thanks Lorie! The kids really, really liked the book and we have already tried 2 of your activities today! I had never read any of her books before so am so glad she was chosen for this month’s author!
This sounds like a really great book!
It is Kendall! I highly recommend it!!!
Thank you for sharing this creative idea of reading. Best, Mary@www.diligentnanny.webs.com
Thanks Mary!
What a very unique activity for this book! I just love how you made it so personal and positive for them. Well done!
Thanks so much! We definitely enjoyed the book!!!
We weren’t familiar with Amy Krouse Rosenthal before this either, but we just read “Spoon” for the first time this afternoon and loved it. There really is so much to talk about and apply!
I agree! We are still reading and talk about it! Thanks for stopping by!
This is a new =to-me book but I’ll be on the look out for it now!
You will not be disappointed!!! 🙂
I love this idea! We have this book and read it often- I love it almost more than the kids. I think we will definitely be using these learning activities along the with the book very soon. Thanks for the post!
Thanks Rebecca! We love it too!!!
This is a great way to honor the memory of a phenomenal author. We’ll be doing this tomorrow in memory of Amy Krause Rosenthal and the beautiful message in her book.
I just can’t get over her passing. Such a loss for the world!