Diary of a Spider

by Doreen Cronin, Harry Bliss (Illustrator)

Overview

#1 New York Times Bestseller!

This hilarious picture book from the bestselling, acclaimed author-illustrator team of Doreen Cronin and Harry Bliss tells the adventures of a spider through his daily diary entries.

This is the diary . . . of a spider. Actually, he's a lot like you. He goes to gym class and has Grandparents Day at school. But he also spins sticky webs, scales walls, and takes wind-catching lessons. Lucky for him, his best friend is a fly!

Read the other books in the series: Diary of a Worm and Diary of a Fly!

 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780060001551
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	05/28/2024
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	7.20(w) x 9.80(h) x 0.30(d)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Doreen Cronin is the New York Times bestselling author of Diary of a Worm, Diary of a Spider, and Diary of a Fly as well as Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type, a Caldecott Honor Book, and Giggle, Giggle, Quack. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, with her husband and their daughters.

New York Times bestselling artist Harry Bliss is a cartoonist and cover artist for the New Yorker magazine. He is the author and illustrator of Bailey and Luke on the Loose and the illustrator of A Fine, Fine School by Sharon Creech, Which Would You Rather Be? by William Steig, Diary of a Worm by Doreen Cronin, and Louise, the Adventures of a Chicken by Kate DiCamillo. His self-titled single panel gag cartoon Bliss appears in newspapers internationally. He lives in New Hampshire. You can visit him online at harrybliss.com.

Editorial Reviews

If you enjoyed Diary of a Worm, this book by the same creative team will give you shivers of joy. The diminutive, eight-legged protagonist is incapable of scaring anybody; he's too busy spinning sticky webs, scaling walls, and taking wind-catching lessons. But this itsy-bitsy spider has a very big heart: He's even befriended a neighborhood fly! A hilarious, charming story by a perfectly matched team.

Cronin and Bliss repeat the comic ingredients that made Diary of a Worm so successful in this rib-tickling sequel. This time the diary is written by Worm's friend Spider and filled with similar verbal high jinks, deadpan humor and visual jokes that offer readers a whimsical glimpse of the world from a small creature's point of view. Endpapers feature photos of Spider's family as well as his favorite book (Charlotte's Web), his discovery of a "neat sculpture!" (a toilet bowl) and a playbill from his school's production of "The Itsy Bitsy Spider" (a review blurb by Worm says, "You'll dig this play"). Children will relate to the book's droll humor, as when Spider goes to the park with his sister ("We tried the seesaw. It didn't work") or when he takes his molted skin for show-and-tell. A slight story line about the tension between Spider's friendship with Fly and his Grampa's prejudice against all six-legged bugs threads together the amusing vignettes. (When Grampa says, "Without spiders, insects could take over the world," Bliss features a menacing alien bug as President of the United States.) This endearing book delivers a gentle message that comes through when Spider muses, "I wish that people wouldn't judge all spiders based on the few spiders that bite. I know if we took the time to get to know each other, we would get along just fine. Just like me and Fly." Ages 4-8. (Aug.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 3-Told in the first person (or is that "first spider?), this is a clever peek into the life of an adolescent spider. Doreen Cronin's book (HarperCollins, 2005) offers an engaging protagonist who just happens to have eight legs. Through his diary we learn about spider school, molting, friendship travails, and important life lessons. There's a generous helping of wit here, and a lot of kid appeal. Harry Bliss not only created the hilarious watercolor illustrations, but also provides the narration for this production. He reads everything, including the back cover and the end papers, with tongue-in-cheek humor and excellent pacing. Occasional sound effects and music enhance the text. This is a delightful book that will charm listeners in this auditory format.-Teresa Bateman, Brigadoon Elementary School, Federal Way, WA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

School Library Journal

The wriggly narrator of Diary of a Worm (2003) puts in occasional appearances, but it's his arachnid buddy who takes center stage here, with terse, tongue-in-cheek comments on his likes (his close friend Fly, Charlotte's Web), his dislikes (vacuums, people with big feet), nervous encounters with a huge Daddy Longlegs, his extended family-which includes a Grandpa more than willing to share hard-won wisdom (The secret to a long, happy life: "Never fall asleep in a shoe.")-and mishaps both at spider school and on the human playground. Bliss endows his garden-dwellers with faces and the odd hat or other accessory, and creates cozy webs or burrows colorfully decorated with corks, scraps, plastic toys and other human detritus. Spider closes with the notion that we could all get along, "just like me and Fly," if we but got to know one another. Once again, brilliantly hilarious. (Picture book. 6-8)

Kirkus Reviews

What strikes fear into a spider's heart? Who is a spider's best friend? What does a spider do all day? After a peek into Spider's diary, the sometimes maligned creature will be better appreciated. Listeners will join Spider for Grandparents’ Day and Safety Day at school, be part of a run-in with Daddy Longlegs, and be a "fly on the wall" for other after-school antics. Angus T. Jones, of TV’s “Two and a Half Men,” delivers a straightforward narration. He lets the words speak for themselves and gives listeners ample time to pour over Harry Bliss's illustrations. This combination of unobtrusive words and detailed visuals brings out the humor and message of the story. A.R. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine

JUN/JUL 07 - AudioFile