Diary Of A Spider
Doreen Cronin
Paperback
(Scholastic, Inc., Jan. 1, 2005)
PreSchool-Grade 3–Children who enjoyed Diary of a Worm (HarperCollins, 2003) will be enchanted by this artistic team's latest collaboration. This time, Spider is the star. Through his humorous diary entries, readers learn about typical events in the life of a young spider. When Spider's mom tells him he's getting too big for his skin, he molts. Fly's feelings are hurt by a thoughtless comment from Daddy Longlegs, and Spider tries to help. He is concerned that he will have to eat leaves and rotten tomatoes when he has a sleepover with Worm. Spider's school doesn't have fire drills; it has vacuum drills (…vacuums eat spiderwebs and are very, very dangerous). Grampa tells him that spider-fly relations have improved over the years and shares the secret of long life–don't fall asleep in shoes. The amusing pen-and-ink and watercolor cartoons, complete with funny asides in dialogue balloons, expand the sublime silliness of some of the scenarios.