Never Use a Knife and Fork

by Neil Goddard, Nick Sharratt (Illustrations)

Never Use a Knife and Fork is an outrageous, tongue-in-cheek exploration of mealtime chaos that will have children in stitches. Full of mischief and mess, it shows exactly what you SHOULDN'T do with food—squish it, slosh it, squirt it, squeeze it! Rollicking rhymes combine perfectly with Nick Sharratt's trademark witty illustrations for a laugh-out-loud look at table manners.

Genres: Picture Books, Childrens

32 pages, Paperback

First published March 7, 2008

Reviews

[Suz]

Indy got this for Christmas, on recommendation from a reading friend, it was her daughter's favourite from childhood. It was fun! Engaging, silly, funny, rhyming and messy. All the things Indy needs to be engaged in a book. Short, too, which is helpful. How do we eat a runny egg without a knife and fork? What food can we hide in our hair, or what can we dip our pig tails in? Or even better, what can we hide in our underwear?! Very cool for my little reader.

[Henna]

A hilarious book to read aloud to class and have a laugh! Rhyming words helps keep the flow of reading with lots of bright and bold pictures!

[Sam]

I really liked this book, as did my year 1 class! It's a fun book filled with mischievous rhyming couplets that describe different ways of eating food (all of which the children understand are completely comical and ultimately 'naughty'!). This is an excellent book for teaching rhyme with as well as a nice book to share with the class when you have got 5 minutes of down time!

Another good book to have up your sleeve for any occasion!

[Shahrina]

This is a amusing storybook that uses rhyme to talk about how you may eat without a knife and fork.

I read this to my year 2s who absolutely loved it. The book does well in using irony to get across that we should use a knife and fork and not to play with food in a way that would create a huge, filthy mess!

I would recommend this book for children in nursery all the way up to KS1.

[Francesca Lee]

A humorous book about how to not eat! This book goes against all rules of table manners which is why it is a funny story for children to enjoy. Each sentence rhymes which is very useful for children learning phonics as it will help them remember sounds. There are lots of colourful images and there are grammar aspects of using a different adjective in each sentence too.

[Hannah Bainbridge]

Book suitable for KS1 and lower KS2. Rhyme throughout, with phrases that children can repeat along with the reader, making this an engaging book for all!
The pictures are bright and bold. There is not a message with the tale, rather just a piece of fun literature!

[Manda Marigold]

This book is a humorous take on poor table manners, as it promotes playing with food. It would be a great tool to teach children how not to behave at the dinner table, and the book's illustrations are stellar.

[SarahEmily1990]

Lovely rhymes and bright, colourful pictures. Very funny.

[Joe]

Best "before bed kids book" ever. Short and funny. Not sure how good it is for table manners though.. 😉

[Ashley Johnson]

'Never use a knife and fork' is a fantastic rhyming story based on eating your favourite foods in a non-conventional way, like squeezing cheese between your knees. This story was written by Neil Goddard and illustrated by Nick Sharrat.

The story is quirky, fun and very imaginative. It would be a fantastic book for children in the Early Years right the way through to Key Stage 2. The illustrations bring the nonsensical story to life with children drinking gravy through straws and bouncing burgers off doors. The book also expresses alliterative sentences, which is a great way of stretching children’s abilities through differentiation in your lessons with the Gifted and Talented.

The book is an easy read for all ages. I would introduce this story at the beginning of a lesson and try to encourage children to create their own rhymes or alliterative scripts based on their experiences at school.

[Emma Hart]

Quite embarrassingly I have done (and still do) some of the things they talk about in this book! I love it! I have sucked ice-cream from the underneath and scraped my biscuit with my teeth, so of course children do these things. I love how it is not only explored but encouraged to be a child! The illustrations are colourful, bold and attention-grabbing. The writing is large with different fonts and sizes, holding children's attention on this book. Not only is it funny and engaging for children, but the words rhyme throughout (e.g. fork, talk and soup, gloop). This book can be read for pure enjoyment but if you are on open parent or teacher then you should let the children do these things and try them out... what does it feel like? what patterns can you make with peas? what does it taste like? So many senses can be explored in a messy and fun environment! Love it!

[Srujan]

Short, fun & slightly impish. :) If you are looking for something light-hearted, this will work wonderfully. :)

[Jess]

I couldn't resist picking up this book to read as it is all about my favourite thing - food! The title stands out immediately with the outrageous phrase of "Never use a knife and fork". This is a phrase many children will never hear from an adult and so will find this book hilarious. From "soak your pigtails in your soup" to, "squeeze some cheese between your knees", you can guarantee the child will be in fits of laughter and desperate to find out more. I can imagine some children also being in immense shock that the children in the book were being so naughty and playing with their food!

The illustrations compliment this great writing with vibrant bold colours and thick blunt line drawings!