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The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon

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Mini Grey’s spin on the nursery rhyme classic “Hey diddle, diddle, the cat and the fiddle” is a love story of sorts that starts when “the dish ran away with the spoon.” In the midst of the Great Depression, Dish and Spoon become rich and famous vaudeville stars—until their taste for the high life puts them in debt to a gang of sharp and shady characters (depicted as evil knives). The cinematic presentation—with a touch of Bonnie and Clyde, a dash of “The Perils of Pauline”—proves that crime doesn’t pay and love conquers all. A visual treat with new details to discover again and again, here is absurd good fun for the whole family.

32 pages, Hardcover

First published April 6, 2006

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About the author

Mini Grey

36 books52 followers
Mini Grey was given her name after being born in a Mini in a car park in Newport, Wales. She studied for an MA in Sequential Illustration at Brighton under the tutelage of John Vernon Lord. Mini also worked as a primary school teacher in Oxford, where she now lives. Her books includeEgg Drop, The Pea and the Princess (shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), Biscuit Bear(winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Gold Award), Traction Man is Here (winner of the Boston Horn Book Award and shortlisted for the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon (winner of the Nestlé Children's Book Prize Bronze Award and winner of the CILIP Kate Greenaway Medal), and Traction Man meets Turbodog. Mini Grey is one of the Big Picture's ten Best New Illustrators. (source: https://www.penguin.co.uk/puffin/auth...)

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5 stars
150 (22%)
4 stars
209 (31%)
3 stars
200 (29%)
2 stars
83 (12%)
1 star
27 (4%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
Profile Image for Callie Risse.
167 reviews2 followers
Read
September 3, 2011
This book is an extension of the rhyme in which the dish ran away with the spoon. In this story, the dish and the spoon run away to be performers, but end up having a hard life that involves 25 years in prison! Personally, I hated this story and would never choose to read it to students.
Profile Image for Kaethe.
6,477 reviews497 followers
July 28, 2018
Still not my favorite, but I enjoyed the humor more, this time. Was I just in a better mood? Did I enjoy it more because I knew what to expect? This time it felt like a clever twist on a movie trope.

Library copy
Profile Image for Kym.
41 reviews3 followers
October 12, 2018
Cute example of how to extend stories and traditional nursery rhymes from the eyes of briefly mentioned characters! Also nice example of how to change the setting and how this can influence the character's new adventures :)
Profile Image for Abigail.
7,332 reviews221 followers
September 23, 2019
For all those readers who wondered what happened to the runaway dish and spoon at the end of the classic nursery rhyme, "Hey Diddle Diddle" - "Hey diddle diddle, / The Cat and the fiddle, / The Cow jumped over the moon, / The little Dog laughed to see such sport, / And the Dish ran away with the Spoon" - picture-book author and artist Mini Grey steps in, spinning a tale of immigration, adventure, crime and punishment, and a great comeback. Sailing the seas to America, Dish and Spoon soon find fame as a vaudeville act, only to see their luck change and to lose everything. Taking to a life of crime, they find themselves arrested and convicted after a bank job gone wrong, spending many years in prison before being deported (back to their native England, one supposes). Here, broken down and cracked, they are reunited in an old junk shop, where they discover that their story isn't over yet...

Having greatly enjoyed this author/artist's humorous Traction Man stories, beginning with Traction Man Is Here! , I was looking forward to seeing what she would do with this classic material. I was not disappointed, as Mini Grey delivers a zany, madcap adventure, one that keeps the reader on her toes as she zooms from one exciting incident to the next. The artwork is just as appealing, with whimsical little details - the gang of "sharp and shady characters" who get Dish and Spoon into trouble!, the hilarious "disguises" they use during their bank robbery - that accentuate the humor in the story. The period settings, in both the 1930s and 1950s, add to the richness of the storytelling. All in all, The Avdentures of the Dish and the Spoon is a fun fractured take on this classic nursery rhyme. I shall have to see how it stacks up again the similarly themed And the Dish Ran Away with the Spoon .
Profile Image for Dolly.
Author 1 book659 followers
July 2, 2012
We have read several of Mini Grey's books and we really like them. The interesting stories and nicely detailed illustrations are a bit hit with our girls. They are big fans of her Traction Man series and we also really enjoyed the book The Very Smart Pea and the Princess-to-be.

This story is a heartbreaking tale of fortune and fame that turns into crime and despair. It's a story of sudden wealth leading to excess and wanton consumption and then to a sharp financial downfall. It's a creative twist on the classic Mother Goose nursery rhyme of "Hey Diddle Diddle." The illustrations are wonderful - cartoonish, with a smattering of mixed media. I loved the silver dollar moon and the images of the cows.

Overall, I'm not sure if our girls understood all the references to the Great Depression and the old gangster movies. But we really enjoyed the story and I loved the ending.
13 reviews
June 2, 2012
This book is a brilliant read! Came across it for the first time in my placement as my year 4 class were reading this as part of their English lesson. It is about a Dish and a Spoon that go on an adventure to New York and live the high life for a while until they get themselves in a bit of a bother. The children loved this book. It has less text but very detailed illustrations, which the children loved and managed to pick out the smallest details to understand what was happening in the story. The pictures are very helpful especially for children who have difficulty to read or are yet to learn to read- they can look at the pictures without having to read the text in order to understand what is happening in the story. Great book.
Profile Image for Jess Peck.
32 reviews1 follower
November 23, 2018
This is a spin on the classic nursery rhyme ‘Hey Diddle Diddle’ this book is about a dish and a spoon who have the most wonderful friendship but sadly get them self into trouble. As a result of getting to caught up in life in NYC the pairs life takes a downward spiral as the dish gets injured and the spoon ends up in prison for 25 years ! Although they eventually get reunited the book can at first be confusing. Overall it leaves children with a positive message that bad behaviour leads to consequences. Also the illustrations are extremely detailed allowing all children to access the text.
Profile Image for Sarah Taylor.
18 reviews
October 24, 2017
A fun take on how money and material belongings mean absolutely nothing if you lose friendship and love. It's a moral story that greed leads to misery and loneliness. Beautiful, detailed, colourful cartoons which appeal to children. Set in 1920s America and replicates a Bonnie and Clyde type of story with the Dish and the Spoon as the main characters in a gangster style epic.
22 reviews1 follower
July 20, 2010
SS5H5 The student will explain how the Great Depression and New Deal affected the lives of millions of Americans.

Initially, I read this particular book because I thought it was connected to the Great Depression. My little boy who is three loved the rhymes and pictures. The only real significance this book has to the Great Depression is that it was written during those poor economic times. I then had a "eureka" moment. This book does capture and has a beautiful twist that could be used in a 5th grade classroom. The up and down cycle the of the stock market is depicted between the dish and the spoon. As result of debt as many people were during the depression is depicted with the spoon and dish resorting to violence and crime from gambling. This book definitely would require higher order questioning, interpretations and perspectives related to pictures and events depicted. This book could be utilized.Where background information is giving on the Great Depression with a illustration from the book where students have to analyze the picture and support responses with facts during that era.
Profile Image for Chelsie.
75 reviews
June 26, 2013
I didn't know where we were going and I didn't care. I knew the Dish would take us there.

What ever happened when Dish ran away with Spoon? Sailing on the ship of adventure, Dish and Spoon find themselves in midst of the Great Depression era. They glide away together along the sea, became rich and famous, but spent it all on gambling and expensive items. Without money, they’re forced to borrow money from “a gang of sharp and shady characters.” To repay their loans, they rob a bank and wind up in jail.

Inspired by Bonnie and Clyde, Dish and Spoon are outlaws. An adventurous outlook on the nursery rhyme, this story resides in the hearts of adults rather than children. The pictures are beautifully drawn, but are quite busy for children. I pulled this book for my adventure themed storytime, but decided it depicted too many mature themes (famous, gambling, gangs, crime, and prison).
Profile Image for Francesca Lee.
237 reviews3 followers
October 1, 2019
This story is about a dish and a spoon on an adventure together. First they go to act in a travelling show but they spent all of their money they earnt. This lead to them robbing a bank, but they got caught. But trying to get away the dish cracked in several places. Soon the spoon got locked up. Later the dish and spoon were reunited in a junk shop. So they ran off together and had their own show again. I think this book shows lovely and clear illustrations which are colourful for children to see the dish and spoon's adventures. This book would be a good read to ks1. Children could be creative in making up their own versions of where the dish and spoon could go on an adventure. There are lots of adjectives used such as 'sunny', 'cracked' and 'crazed' that children could find alternatives for.
12 reviews1 follower
May 31, 2012
Loved this book. This was one of the main texts for Year 2's literacy. It tells the tale of the Dish and Spoon (two characters from the nursary rhyme, Hey Diddle Diddle). The children really enjoyed reading about their adventures - how they became famous and then spent all their money leading them to borrow money from some shady characters (Knives and Forks). Unable to repay the Knives and Forks, the Dish and Spoon decide to rob a bank. The Dish is caught and sent to prison while the Spoon is deported hence separating them. Twenty five years later they are reunited in an old antique store. As an activity the children had to create a wanted poster for the Dish or Spoon which they really enjoyed.
September 20, 2017
I thought this was a lovely picture book. I thought it was different to other picture books that I have read as it shows the main characters being bad. The illustrations were really good and had some really good hidden pictures in, such as the picture of the roulette table on the page where they lost all their money and the Mona Lisa. I think the illustrations could spark great conversations and discussions with children of all ages as there is so much there to talk about. History could also be brought into it as when the spoon is out of prison he see’s shops with ‘televisions with colour’ for sale which could then lead to a project on when these and other electrics were invented.
20 reviews1 follower
September 14, 2020
Throughout several of her books, Mini Grey writes from the perspective of an inanimate object and the use of these objects encouraged the children to use their imagination to support the story. The use of detailed illustrations alongside the text provides the children with a setting to relate/associate the story with. Mini Grey uses realistic settings with extraordinary stories that stimulate children’s imagination.
Profile Image for Jenny.
2,916 reviews31 followers
February 23, 2013
This isn't my favorite retelling of the nursery rhyme... Dish and Spoon have gotten into trouble...they were vaudeville stars...but then they got into financial trouble and robbed a bank. I am sure that many people will find it quite humorous, but neither the story nor the illustrations enthralled me.
30 reviews
October 11, 2019
This book has a good moral to it showing what mistakes children shouldn’t make in life, but also that everyone gets a second chance. The illustrations were well done with their own unique style and helped convey the necessary information so the children can better understand what was happening in the story.
Profile Image for Mr Bramley.
292 reviews4 followers
October 25, 2019
- Read to in seminar by other students.

I really didn't get on with this story at all. I could appreciate the backstory and context of the plot, but I feel like even that saving grace could be easily lost on children, its target audience.

I have read other works by Mini Grey and I can say for sure that this is definitely not a favourite.

Profile Image for Ubalstecha.
1,612 reviews19 followers
July 27, 2011
Again, a brilliant piece of fiction from Mini Grey. This on plays on the rhyme "Hey Diddle, Diddle", specifically the dish and the spoon. It is a funny, whimsical look at what happened after the dish and spoon ran away. Children will love the illustrations, but adults will also love the story.
Profile Image for Emma Hamilton.
60 reviews1 follower
October 31, 2017
Amazing illustrations in this book which children would love to spend time looking at. Possibly a book which could be used for group reading at the end of the day. A book for enjoyment rather than a book which can be used for lesson purposes.
Profile Image for Annie Wingate.
51 reviews1 follower
December 28, 2018
This picutre book is suitable for ages 6+. The picture book includes amusing, intricate illustrations catching young childrens attendtion and interest. It is a vibrant and interesting story that children would enjoy teaching a message of having to pay for your mistakes.
Profile Image for Rebecca Morris.
45 reviews2 followers
October 15, 2019
The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon is based on a famous nursery rhyme that most children will know so they may easily pick up on this. The illustrations in the book are humorous and make the boy and enjoyable read. I would love to read this book aloud to children.
1,967 reviews19 followers
May 23, 2015
Used to be Ellie's favorite book to checkout at the Library. She said this used to be 5 stars for her but now it is 4 stars.
103 reviews1 follower
October 17, 2017
Quirky story, great illustrations. A play on nursery rhymes. I love the dish and the spoon leaving the White Cliffs and arriving in New York.
13 reviews
September 20, 2017
‘The Adventures of the Dish and the Spoon’ is a text told through the perspective of the spoon. Within the story, the spoon tells the reader about the shared adventures it experiences with the dish. In the story the words and pictures work together though a tense narrative build up between the two. For example, the spoon tells the dish “just march into the bank and it’ll be over in no time” whilst the pictures illustrate an unsure looking dish standing next to the spoon and the consequences of the spoon’s and dish’s actions (both characters running out of the bank amongst a sea of people.)

The story fits well with the theme of characters taking risks, the strength of friendships and the clear link with the traditional English nursery rhyme ‘Hey diddle, diddle’ by Mother Goose . The story also poses the question of whether true friendship and happiness can be bought with material possessions or by simply enjoying each other’s company. This story may be useful for younger years in discussions about whether they can see any links between the two whilst you could encourage older children to develop their own favourite nursery rhymes or short stories. I think this book would be good to read aloud to a class as through the questioning and visual links to the nursery rhyme, it engages the reader to be involved in the adventure.

In the story, the pictures are a combination of collage and recognisable characters from the nursery rhyme. For example, in the nursery rhyme ‘the cow jumped over the moon’ is sung and in the book, this line is explicitly pictured in the dish and spoons adventures ‘on the moonlit ocean’ against a backdrop of five cows jumping over a white moon.
Profile Image for Ruth Heslop.
27 reviews2 followers
June 15, 2019
The story is told from the spoon’s perspective and is about the adventures the dish and the spoon go on together. The words and pictures go together because the pictures give more of a context of the environment but the words help know the thoughts of the different characters. For example, when the spoon is locked up in prison, the picture indicates he is sad because of his body posture (bending over and droopy) without the words having to.
Some experiences of the world are evident in this book such as friendship, loyalty and adventure. For example, at the end of the story, after the spoon is locked up in prison and the plate is smashed, they come back together and decide to do what they used to do together. The techniques used in this book are rhetorical questions to make the reader think, short sentences to create tension and suspense and the ending of the story was similar to what happened in the beginning, helping to tie the story together.
I think that this book would be good to be read aloud because the pictures are nice for the children to follow along with and gain a deeper understanding of the text. Having the different characters allows for the opportunity to use different voices for them which engages the children with the story as it is made more interesting. Also, I think that this book would be good for teaching children about rhetorical questions as they come up quite frequently throughout the book.
Profile Image for Sally.
87 reviews
May 21, 2018
The Adventures of the Dish and Spoon by Mini Grey was the 2008 winner of the United Kingdom’s Kate Greenaway Medal winner. The story picks up where the nursery rhyme ends with “the dish run[ning] away with the spoon,” and imagines what happens next. Told from the point of view of the spoon, the story follows the personified spoon and dish as they become famous performers, spend their fortune, borrow money from some “shady characters,” rob a bank to pay them back, get separated (the spoon serves 25 years in prison), and reunite at a junk shop and become performers for a new generation of people who haven’t seen a dish do tricks with a spoon. It’s a unique concept with colorful illustrations.

Elementary students might enjoy using this story as inspiration to write other stories about nursery rhyme characters. Teachers could work with perspective by asking students to write the story from the third person perspective or the dish’s perspective.
August 2, 2017
The book is aimed at children in Key Stage 1. It is a picture book about the Dish and the Spoon from the nursery rhyme. On the blurb is a black and white newspaper style wanted poster for the alternative life of the Dish and the Spoon after they've 'run away'. The story line relies on the information the children will already have know from the nursery rhyme, it begins with a recap of the characters running away together. The text is written on on a slant to create the idea of movement. The language of running away is used throughout repetitively. The story is told from the Spoon's perspective and it is cyclical. The story ends with the Dish and the Spoon doing that they did in the nursery rhyme, running away together, but this time as part of a happy resolution. The images are zoomed in of the Dish and the Spoon. This perspective will be easy for the child to understand as they also have a similar view on the world. The moral of the story is to look for new opportunities, to persevere through difficult times and to continue trying to do what you do best.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Claudia G-D.
93 reviews2 followers
September 18, 2018
I have to admit this is not my favourite picture book. Although it has elements of rhyme and good detailed illustrations I just didn’t enjoy the plot. I like how it uses a popular children’s rhyme and it is also a little different to other picture books as the main characters are bad and end up in prison for 25 years. This would be a nice book to explore at the end of the day but I wouldn’t use it as a topic or a whole class text. However with older children it could be used to explore American history because of its links to the Great Depression. As well as this it also has potential for children to create their own twists and stories based on popular rhymes.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews

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