Review - Spork

Spork
by Kyo Maclear
illustrated by Isabelle Arsenault
Date: 2010
Publisher: Kids Can Press
Reading level: C
Book type: picture book
Pages: 34
Format: e-book
Source: library

A humorous “multi-cutlery” tale about how Spork — half spoon, half fork — finally finds his place at the table. A charming story for anyone who has ever wondered about their place in the world.

(synopsis from Goodreads)

What a cute little book! To adult readers, it would be pretty clear that we're not talking about cutlery, but about multi-racial families. But it's a great parallel, and addresses some of the issues that kids in such families might face.

I wasn't 100% sold on the illustrations, but only because I'm not sure how appealing they'd be to the target age group. The book is fairly monochromatic, with a rather rough look to it. Spork, however, is adorable.

Overall, this is a cute book with a great message about finding your place in the world.

Quotable moment:

One day, after the billionth time he was asked "What are you, anyway?" and the zillionth time he was passed over when the table was being set...

... Spork sighed and thought, "It must be easier to be a single thing." And he decided he'd try to pick just one thing to be.

Premise: 4/5
Meter: n/a
Writing: 4/5
Illustrations: 3/5
Originality: 4/5

Enjoyment: 3/5

Overall: 3.5 out of 5