In a kitchen drawer where each utensil has a clear purpose, Spork – the offspring of a spoonish mum and a forkish dad – sticks out. Spork’s had it with being asked to define himself, so he resolves to pick a side. Yet the forks say he’s “too round” to be one of them, and the spoons declare he’s “too pointy.” It seems Spork will never be used . . . until the day the “messy thing” arrives, eschewing traditional cutlery and flinging food about the table. Identity and cultural divisions are weighty topics, but Maclear handles them with a gentle wit. The jokes also abound in Arsenault’s retro-inspired pictures, where spoons, forks, and other kitchen denizens take on the same expressions and self-important scurrying as the humans who use them. Spork is a book both kids and parents will devour. mRb