The Snail and the Whale is written by Julia Donaldson and illustrated by Axel Scheffler, who are best known for The Gruffalo, although really any of their books are worth a try. We have about half a dozen of Julia Donaldson's rhyming picture books, since my mother discovered that they were a safe bet for my son. It's hard to pin down a reliable favourite, but this is the one that surprised me most with how much it appealed to him.
The reason for this is that it isn't especially funny and there's quite an abstract side to the plot. The story follows a snail, who lives on a rock by a dock and dreams of travelling. She hitches a lift with a humpback whale and gets her wish, only to be left feeling insignificant due to her small size. Then the whale beaches himself, and the snail saves him by writing a message with her slime-trail on a school's blackboard, kicking off a rescue mission (no huge claims to realism here!).
While the idea of somebody small doing something heroic would seem an obvious story for children, the book has a slow build up to that climax, taking several pages to tour the world with the snail. I'm not sure what captivates my son so much, but I love reading lines like:
This is the sea
So wild and free.
That carried the whale
And the snail on his tail
To towering icebergs and far-off lands
With fiery mountains and golden sands...
Perhaps that's the answer. I always believe that one of the important factors in choosing a book to read to children is to choose one that you can read well. Public speaking will never be my thing, but even I can tell that I'm more expressive with this book than some of the others we've tried out.
With that in mind, one of the common critiques I find with any of Julia Donaldson's books on Amazon is that the rhythm doesn't work out. Personally, I've figured out the rhythm to all the books we have, though some of them are more difficult than others... the Snail and the Whale has a tendency to suddenly go slow (yeah, it's been a while since I studied metre in poetry, so apologies for the clunky terminology here). It might be worth flipping through any of her books before purchase, to make sure you have a feel for the rhythm.
Anyway, as I've already said, I love the text in this one, where she gives her descriptive powers more of a workout. Similarly, Axel Scheffler puts his cartoony detail to broader use, sketching out some impressive landscapes. I confess that I rather wish a different artist had been used, since I would have loved to see a 'prettier' rendering, but I suspect there are just as many people who are delighted that they stuck with the same illustrator instead of going for something more saccharine. It's just a personal taste thing.
Agewise, my son has been loving this book since soon after he turned two--he's currently three and a half. It's too long for my eighteen month old daughter, who has shown no particular interest.
Notes for the Parent
Nothing here likely to upset your child... a couple of sharks appear in passing, which might be considered scary, but no comments on the food chain!
The protagonist is female, always a nice touch, and although she spends much of the book being carried around by the (male) whale, she takes the more active role in the narrative, devising her own way of achieving her dream, and likewise, figuring out how to save her traveling partner, and when she returns to her home-rock, she has finally earned the respect of her fellow snails.
In the diversity stakes, the human cast are predominantly white, but the class of children feature one black girl and a boy who looks to be of Asian (e.g. Pakistani) descent. Of the firefighters helping with the beached whale, two are black and one is female.
The school is a traditional primary school, with desks in front of the blackboard and a strict teacher telling the children to be quiet. Obviously, I'm biased here, still, I am a bit annoyed that the school is given a negative image. Children's opinions count for more, of course, but if you are trying to avoid negative school imagery (e.g. with a child about to start), this will not be the book for you!
Educational stuff
While it's not overly realistic, there's a nice feel of geography in the pages without going into anything too specific. The snail's home-dock and the school by the beach have typically British scenery, but we also get a taste of the Antarctic (judging by the penguins) a tropical and volcanic island, under the sea and a North American coastline--complete with bald eagle. I can't spot any obvious errors in Axel Scheffler's details, and my son enjoys spotting the various fauna in each new location.
Also, the snail writes in cursive, which is a nice touch if you have a child learning that.
All in all, highly recommended, as is just about any Julia Donaldson.
For your own personal reading pleasure, I will recommend Dear Zari: The Secret Lives of the Women of Afghanistan. It compiles some of the 'life stories' broadcast on the radio show, Afghan Woman's Hour, along with the personal experiences of the author who hosted the show. While some artistic liberties have undoubtedly been taken (along with steps to preserve anonymity, these are real stories and as such make for a pretty devastating read, often being the story of how a woman got into a state of despair without any cheerful resolution (though there are some uplifting stories). There are also a diverse range of personalities in these stories, despite the recurring themes, and also a look into how Islamic culture and religion often clash (with culture generally winning).
Eye-opening, and made me appreciative of the rights my daughter and I have. It's a book I'd like my daughter to read in another fifteen years or so, despite the grim tone.
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Book Reviews. Show all posts
Friday, 3 August 2012
Tuesday, 15 May 2012
Book Review: Go Away Big Green Monster
Go Away, Big Green Monster by Ed Emberley is a book I came across when teaching my old toddler class. It was one of my safe bets for circle time; I never met a two year old yet who didn't like it. When I had my own son, it was one of the first books I bought for him.
The feature of the book are die-cut pages, and through their holes, the face of the monster gradually appears, while the text underneath describes him. So page one: "Big Green Monster has two big yellow eyes," Page two says "a long bluish-greenish nose," etc.
For this first half of the book the pages are black, but once the monster's head is fully revealed, we get this text: "YOU DON'T SCARE ME! So GO AWAY, scraggly purple hair!" And you turn over to a purple page and a smaller cut-out.
The text keeps ordering features to go away, and the cut-out keeps getting smaller until only the pupils of the eyes are left, with the final command beneath: "GO AWAY, Big Green Monster!" Turning this last page brings you to the jet black inside cover of the book, with the text: "and DON'T COME BACK!" Beneath, in smaller, green print: "Until I say so."
The simple art style and bold, contrasting colours would make this a good book for babies--if you can find a board book version! I've only seen paper ones, and accordingly, I've not tried it on a child younger than one. I think it would make a brilliant board book though, since babies love books with holes. Even now, my daughter likes to poke her fingers at the monster's eyes and "sharp white teeth."
It's also very short, taking only a couple of minutes to read, and with repetitive text which makes it ideal for toddlers. The cut-outs will fascinate older children too, and I have used this in a mixed age circle though I wouldn't recommend it particularly for three year olds and up.
Notes for the Parent
The monster in the book is by necessity very cartoonish and not remotely scary. Although there is the one line: "YOU DON'T SCARE ME!" there is no suggestion of why the narrator might be scared of the monster. That said, the definite implication is that monsters are scary.
The tagline on the front cover says "Make your fears disappear!" and this is obviously targeted at children who imagine monsters in the dark to help them get over their fear. The potential problem here is that the toddlers who I recommend this book for are generally too young to be afraid of the dark These kinds of fears generally start around two or three, according to WebMD; my son, at three and a half has yet to exhibit that kind of anxiety.
The fact that the book's message might go over your children's heads isn't going to spoil their enjoyment of it in the least. The only potential problem here is, as I said above, it suggests the idea that monsters are scary. I personally doubt it would start a fear of the dark in a child, but if you're trying to avoid any sort of "toddler-horror", this might not be the book for you.
Educational Stuff
Obviously, if your child is afraid of the dark, even if they're past their toddler years, they might find this book useful.
I personally use it for teaching the parts of the face. When reading the story in a circle, I would point to my eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Most of the children would automatically mimic me with much giggling. Reading it to my children, I touch their own facial features and those on the pages.
Most of the pages mention colours too, but it's not really the best book for that, since the range is a little limited: white, red, yellow, green, purple, and... 'bluish-greenish'. Vocabulary in general is limited ('big' is used for the monster, his eyes, his mouth and his face) and descriptive rather than useful ('scraggly' and 'squiggly').
That's not the point, of course. The book is meant to be simple and striking and it achieves that wonderfully. In my opinion, every toddler should have this book!
For grown-up reading, I make the late-to-the-party recommendation of the Hunger Games series. You've probably heard of it, and while no phenomenon is really worth its hype, it does make for a great read. The final book, Mockingjay, has a very different feel to the other two, and seems to divide its fans. I personally love it, and love that the author didn't cop out in favour of more conventional story-telling tropes. Being a young adult series, it's reasonably short and simple too, which is always good for my toddler-induced-exhaustion.
The feature of the book are die-cut pages, and through their holes, the face of the monster gradually appears, while the text underneath describes him. So page one: "Big Green Monster has two big yellow eyes," Page two says "a long bluish-greenish nose," etc.
For this first half of the book the pages are black, but once the monster's head is fully revealed, we get this text: "YOU DON'T SCARE ME! So GO AWAY, scraggly purple hair!" And you turn over to a purple page and a smaller cut-out.
The text keeps ordering features to go away, and the cut-out keeps getting smaller until only the pupils of the eyes are left, with the final command beneath: "GO AWAY, Big Green Monster!" Turning this last page brings you to the jet black inside cover of the book, with the text: "and DON'T COME BACK!" Beneath, in smaller, green print: "Until I say so."
The simple art style and bold, contrasting colours would make this a good book for babies--if you can find a board book version! I've only seen paper ones, and accordingly, I've not tried it on a child younger than one. I think it would make a brilliant board book though, since babies love books with holes. Even now, my daughter likes to poke her fingers at the monster's eyes and "sharp white teeth."
It's also very short, taking only a couple of minutes to read, and with repetitive text which makes it ideal for toddlers. The cut-outs will fascinate older children too, and I have used this in a mixed age circle though I wouldn't recommend it particularly for three year olds and up.
Notes for the Parent
The monster in the book is by necessity very cartoonish and not remotely scary. Although there is the one line: "YOU DON'T SCARE ME!" there is no suggestion of why the narrator might be scared of the monster. That said, the definite implication is that monsters are scary.
The tagline on the front cover says "Make your fears disappear!" and this is obviously targeted at children who imagine monsters in the dark to help them get over their fear. The potential problem here is that the toddlers who I recommend this book for are generally too young to be afraid of the dark These kinds of fears generally start around two or three, according to WebMD; my son, at three and a half has yet to exhibit that kind of anxiety.
The fact that the book's message might go over your children's heads isn't going to spoil their enjoyment of it in the least. The only potential problem here is, as I said above, it suggests the idea that monsters are scary. I personally doubt it would start a fear of the dark in a child, but if you're trying to avoid any sort of "toddler-horror", this might not be the book for you.
Educational Stuff
Obviously, if your child is afraid of the dark, even if they're past their toddler years, they might find this book useful.
I personally use it for teaching the parts of the face. When reading the story in a circle, I would point to my eyes, nose, mouth, etc. Most of the children would automatically mimic me with much giggling. Reading it to my children, I touch their own facial features and those on the pages.
Most of the pages mention colours too, but it's not really the best book for that, since the range is a little limited: white, red, yellow, green, purple, and... 'bluish-greenish'. Vocabulary in general is limited ('big' is used for the monster, his eyes, his mouth and his face) and descriptive rather than useful ('scraggly' and 'squiggly').
That's not the point, of course. The book is meant to be simple and striking and it achieves that wonderfully. In my opinion, every toddler should have this book!
For grown-up reading, I make the late-to-the-party recommendation of the Hunger Games series. You've probably heard of it, and while no phenomenon is really worth its hype, it does make for a great read. The final book, Mockingjay, has a very different feel to the other two, and seems to divide its fans. I personally love it, and love that the author didn't cop out in favour of more conventional story-telling tropes. Being a young adult series, it's reasonably short and simple too, which is always good for my toddler-induced-exhaustion.
Monday, 12 March 2012
Book Review: All the World
This is one that I picked up at the library this week: All the World by Liz Garton Scanlon, illustrated by Marla Frazee. I'd not heard of it before, but it had received a Caldecott Honor (an award for illustrations) from 2010.
I assumed when I picked it up that it would be a book about the physical world, showing many different locations, but in fact it's more about society: the world as we experience it, or rather, as a child does. It follows different families through a day in a rural community, through settings like a beach, a farmer's market, a park which is hit by a sudden storm, forcing several characters to seek shelter in a cafe. The day ends with a cosy party at one house, complete with roaring fire and musical instruments.
Youtube trailer:
The story is a poem, which is certainly lovely, but what really stood out to me were the illustrations, which tell the story. They are both beautiful but incredibly detailed, repeating the same characters on different pages (my favourites are the two elderly ladies on the tandem), and I've gone back and forth through the book several times, looking for who appears where! No characters are ever referred to in the text, which tends to stay abstract.
It's too old for my one year old daughter. The story is too abstract and the illustrations too busy for her. She's patted the pages with some interest when I've been reading it to her brother, but she's not stuck around to pay attention. My three year old son has enjoyed it, and likes discussing the pictures, but he's not demanding it be read over and over. He has picked it up independently to look through the pictures--his favourite is the tree with children climbing through the branches.
I think a year ago he would have loved it, and when he's old enough to follow the detail in the illustrations himself, he'll be more fascinated again, but right now he likes books with characters and humour. This is definitely not a funny book!
However, it's one I'll remember for when I go back to teaching, because it would be a great one to read at circle time in school. It's beautiful, peaceful, inclusive and inoffensive without being stiltedly politically correct.
Notes for the Parent
There really isn't anything controversial or worrisome in this book, which tends towards a wholesome view of life. If anything, I'd warn people that it's too idealised, and very much on the crunchy side. The activities of the people in the book are virtually technology-free--save for one image of a child on a phone near the end. No computers, televisions, video-games or stereos! There are a handful of cars, but most characters walk or pedal.
Educational Stuff
The loose moral of this story is responsibility and love for the world around us. Young children obviously have no concept of prejudice, so this is a lovely illustration of how to teach tolerance and acceptance without having to teach the bigotry that exists.
While the story takes place within a single community, the art avoids any sort of cultural designation. There are many things that strike me as distinctly North American in feel, but there aren't any obviously American traditions. The setting feels contemporary, but there's little to date it either. Some of the characters are clearly white or black, but most are ethnically ambiguous, and at least one family is multi-racial. There is no suggestion of any religious practice during the day as shown, but the double-page spread showing the community does depict a building that looks like a church.
The real beauty of the illustrated storylines is that so much is open to interpretation, allowing the reader to relate things to their own child's world-view. There's a picture of a young woman holding her baby in a perfect latching position. Her top isn't raised (or lowered), so she'd need some concealed opening to be breastfeeding, but that's exactly what it looks like she's doing. But it's not something a child unfamiliar with nursing would pick up on.
That same young woman appears three or four times holding her child, but there's never a father in evidence. Clearly, there could be a father somewhere off-camera, as it were, but equally, she could be pointed out as a single mother--a hardworking single mother, who is studying while breastfeeding.
That's the kind of thing I love about this book... there's nothing so obvious as two men pushing a stroller (although I think it would be fantastic if there was), but the tandem-riding ladies co-habitate. At the end, they're shown on a garden swing, their cycling helmets beside them and the older woman's arm around the younger (age determined only by hair colour--neither looks young). They could be a mother and daughter, or they could be closer in age: a pair of spinsters or a longstanding couple.
For more conventional literary skills... it's a nice vocabulary builder. The poem's stanzas tend to begin with a couple of lines listing things that can be found in the pictures. There are more than a few opposites as well and several more abstract concepts. The text appears in different places, depending on the images, but it's always going from top to bottom, left to right, and shouldn't confuse an early reader.
All in all, an absolutely beautiful book, and one I will likely buy so that we have our own copy to keep.
I assumed when I picked it up that it would be a book about the physical world, showing many different locations, but in fact it's more about society: the world as we experience it, or rather, as a child does. It follows different families through a day in a rural community, through settings like a beach, a farmer's market, a park which is hit by a sudden storm, forcing several characters to seek shelter in a cafe. The day ends with a cosy party at one house, complete with roaring fire and musical instruments.
Youtube trailer:
The story is a poem, which is certainly lovely, but what really stood out to me were the illustrations, which tell the story. They are both beautiful but incredibly detailed, repeating the same characters on different pages (my favourites are the two elderly ladies on the tandem), and I've gone back and forth through the book several times, looking for who appears where! No characters are ever referred to in the text, which tends to stay abstract.
It's too old for my one year old daughter. The story is too abstract and the illustrations too busy for her. She's patted the pages with some interest when I've been reading it to her brother, but she's not stuck around to pay attention. My three year old son has enjoyed it, and likes discussing the pictures, but he's not demanding it be read over and over. He has picked it up independently to look through the pictures--his favourite is the tree with children climbing through the branches.
I think a year ago he would have loved it, and when he's old enough to follow the detail in the illustrations himself, he'll be more fascinated again, but right now he likes books with characters and humour. This is definitely not a funny book!
However, it's one I'll remember for when I go back to teaching, because it would be a great one to read at circle time in school. It's beautiful, peaceful, inclusive and inoffensive without being stiltedly politically correct.
Notes for the Parent
There really isn't anything controversial or worrisome in this book, which tends towards a wholesome view of life. If anything, I'd warn people that it's too idealised, and very much on the crunchy side. The activities of the people in the book are virtually technology-free--save for one image of a child on a phone near the end. No computers, televisions, video-games or stereos! There are a handful of cars, but most characters walk or pedal.
Educational Stuff
The loose moral of this story is responsibility and love for the world around us. Young children obviously have no concept of prejudice, so this is a lovely illustration of how to teach tolerance and acceptance without having to teach the bigotry that exists.
While the story takes place within a single community, the art avoids any sort of cultural designation. There are many things that strike me as distinctly North American in feel, but there aren't any obviously American traditions. The setting feels contemporary, but there's little to date it either. Some of the characters are clearly white or black, but most are ethnically ambiguous, and at least one family is multi-racial. There is no suggestion of any religious practice during the day as shown, but the double-page spread showing the community does depict a building that looks like a church.
The real beauty of the illustrated storylines is that so much is open to interpretation, allowing the reader to relate things to their own child's world-view. There's a picture of a young woman holding her baby in a perfect latching position. Her top isn't raised (or lowered), so she'd need some concealed opening to be breastfeeding, but that's exactly what it looks like she's doing. But it's not something a child unfamiliar with nursing would pick up on.
That same young woman appears three or four times holding her child, but there's never a father in evidence. Clearly, there could be a father somewhere off-camera, as it were, but equally, she could be pointed out as a single mother--a hardworking single mother, who is studying while breastfeeding.
That's the kind of thing I love about this book... there's nothing so obvious as two men pushing a stroller (although I think it would be fantastic if there was), but the tandem-riding ladies co-habitate. At the end, they're shown on a garden swing, their cycling helmets beside them and the older woman's arm around the younger (age determined only by hair colour--neither looks young). They could be a mother and daughter, or they could be closer in age: a pair of spinsters or a longstanding couple.
For more conventional literary skills... it's a nice vocabulary builder. The poem's stanzas tend to begin with a couple of lines listing things that can be found in the pictures. There are more than a few opposites as well and several more abstract concepts. The text appears in different places, depending on the images, but it's always going from top to bottom, left to right, and shouldn't confuse an early reader.
All in all, an absolutely beautiful book, and one I will likely buy so that we have our own copy to keep.
Monday, 20 February 2012
Book Review: The Very Busy Spider
One of the things I've been meaning to do for awhile now is write out reviews of some of my (and my children's, where different,) favourite books that we read together. I know quite a few bloggers do this, and I always appreciate them when I find them, because it can be a pain in the arse figuring out which of the many many children's picture books are the cream of the crop. Ignoring my own childhood, I've been acquiring a go-to list of great books for over five years, ever since I started helping out with the toddler class at what is now my son's school.
But the first book I'm going to review is my daughter's choice. I recently set up a box of board-books by the sofa, so she can pull one out and drag it over to me to read to her. This has the advantage that I don't have to collect the book myself and the disadvantage that I can't sit on the sofa without having a book shoved at me. Oh, and of course, that independent, she gets to choose the book and time to read thing (which is just as well, since I was very forgetful about making time to read prior to this).
This approach worked like a charm in instigating my son's love of books, and it's had the same effect on my daughter. Her particular favourite was Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, which has now been relegated to her bedroom, so I only have to read it at bedtime, as opposed to twenty times a day.
The Very Busy Spider
Eric Carle is best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (which is brilliant for a number of reasons) and he's done a number of other books, some of which are brilliant and some not so much, but generally, he's a fairly safe bet as authors go. I personally don't find The Very Busy Spider as engaging as some of his other stories, but both my children have loved it.
The gimmick of the book is "A board book to feel as well as read and hear." The spider's web is raised on the page, so children can feel it. The spider herself is outlined with a series of raised bumps, and there's a fly on most pages that gets the same treatment. It's kind of fun, although the overall story and presentation are better.
I don't know if this is available as a paper rather than board book, but my recommendation would be to get a board book edition. As with most of Eric Carle's art, it's very simple in layout, with big colourful animals and no backgrounds, appealing to babies while textured enough to fascinate older children. The story is a little long for the youngest babies, but short enough to keep the attention of the under-threes (my daughter just turned one).
The overall story (and I am going to assume that nobody reading these reviews cares about spoilers!) is about a spider spinning her web in a farmyard, and ignoring the various farm animals who come and talk to her. Double-page spreads are used throughout the book, mostly with a farm animal on the left with a fly buzzing around them, and the fence with the spider spinning her web on the right (she starts the web at the beginning of the book, and it is complete by the end).
Except for the beginning and end, the left-hand text goes: '"[animal sound]!" said [animal]. "Want to [activity]?"' The right hand text is: 'The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web.'
The final page features a night-time scene, and the web is invisible against the navy blue background, but the spider and her web can still be felt (my daughter usually ignores the previous web-pages, but she always scratches at the last one with a giggle).
Notes for the Parent
Once the spider's web is finished, she catches the fly that appeared on the lefthand pages (although it is not mentioned until the spread when it's caught). The book doesn't mention what happens to the fly after it's caught and the next page depicts a fly-free web. Basically, if you're squeamish about explaining to your child that the spider ate the fly, you don't have to. It's too complicated a concept for me to bring it up with my daughter, but if her three year old brother is listening to the story, I tell him that spiders eat flies. When the spider catches the fly, he now shouts "And ate it!" with entirely inappropriate glee.
The loose moral to the story is to work instead of play, but it's a bit vague, and you could equally say that it promotes anti-social behaviour, since the spider-heroine resolutely ignores the animals' friendly overtures!
The protagonist is female. No other genders are specified (although one assumes the cow is female, the rooster is male and the duck appears to be a female mallard), but it's not really a story with characters to identify with, just to entertain. There are no human characters.
Educational Stuff
This doesn't really teach anything, unless you count the animals and their noises. It does introduce the concept of spiders spinning webs and catching flies. The progress of the web-spinning is shown over different pages, which is a nice sequencing thing, although it's probably too complicated for the target audience to follow.
The art is done in Eric Carle's distinctive style, and although all the animals are coloured correctly (save the spider, which has a blue head and red body), it's not aiming at realism. The spider itself has a more anthropomorphic than arachnid face (two eyes and a nose). Due to the small size of the character, it's only really noticeable on the front cover.
Like a lot of Eric Carle's work, it encourages a left to right progression, with all the animals facing to the right. The first two pages of the book, feature the spider-thread trailing across the pages (ultimately leading to the fence where she spins), and older children can trace this from left to right with their finger.
The animals are loosely ordered by size, going from large to small--although they are not drawn to scale! It reads a little like a reverse of "There was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly", starting with a horse, and ending with the spider catching the fly on the suggestion of a bird.
Overall, it's probably the repetition (and the animal noises) that makes this a big hit with my children. After several iterations of 'The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web,' my daughter will turn to me, grinning broadly, when the spider catches the fly instead. My son was besotted with it at a similar age, and still enjoys it, but he never chooses it himself. He's moved onto more elaborate stories.
For a parent book recommendation, check out the series of books based on the webcomic, the Order of the Stick, the proposed reprints of which have been making Kickstarter history for the past month. Grown-ups can have picture books too!
But the first book I'm going to review is my daughter's choice. I recently set up a box of board-books by the sofa, so she can pull one out and drag it over to me to read to her. This has the advantage that I don't have to collect the book myself and the disadvantage that I can't sit on the sofa without having a book shoved at me. Oh, and of course, that independent, she gets to choose the book and time to read thing (which is just as well, since I was very forgetful about making time to read prior to this).
This approach worked like a charm in instigating my son's love of books, and it's had the same effect on my daughter. Her particular favourite was Eric Carle's The Very Busy Spider, which has now been relegated to her bedroom, so I only have to read it at bedtime, as opposed to twenty times a day.
The Very Busy Spider
Eric Carle is best known for The Very Hungry Caterpillar (which is brilliant for a number of reasons) and he's done a number of other books, some of which are brilliant and some not so much, but generally, he's a fairly safe bet as authors go. I personally don't find The Very Busy Spider as engaging as some of his other stories, but both my children have loved it.
The gimmick of the book is "A board book to feel as well as read and hear." The spider's web is raised on the page, so children can feel it. The spider herself is outlined with a series of raised bumps, and there's a fly on most pages that gets the same treatment. It's kind of fun, although the overall story and presentation are better.
I don't know if this is available as a paper rather than board book, but my recommendation would be to get a board book edition. As with most of Eric Carle's art, it's very simple in layout, with big colourful animals and no backgrounds, appealing to babies while textured enough to fascinate older children. The story is a little long for the youngest babies, but short enough to keep the attention of the under-threes (my daughter just turned one).
The overall story (and I am going to assume that nobody reading these reviews cares about spoilers!) is about a spider spinning her web in a farmyard, and ignoring the various farm animals who come and talk to her. Double-page spreads are used throughout the book, mostly with a farm animal on the left with a fly buzzing around them, and the fence with the spider spinning her web on the right (she starts the web at the beginning of the book, and it is complete by the end).
Except for the beginning and end, the left-hand text goes: '"[animal sound]!" said [animal]. "Want to [activity]?"' The right hand text is: 'The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web.'
The final page features a night-time scene, and the web is invisible against the navy blue background, but the spider and her web can still be felt (my daughter usually ignores the previous web-pages, but she always scratches at the last one with a giggle).
Notes for the Parent
Once the spider's web is finished, she catches the fly that appeared on the lefthand pages (although it is not mentioned until the spread when it's caught). The book doesn't mention what happens to the fly after it's caught and the next page depicts a fly-free web. Basically, if you're squeamish about explaining to your child that the spider ate the fly, you don't have to. It's too complicated a concept for me to bring it up with my daughter, but if her three year old brother is listening to the story, I tell him that spiders eat flies. When the spider catches the fly, he now shouts "And ate it!" with entirely inappropriate glee.
The loose moral to the story is to work instead of play, but it's a bit vague, and you could equally say that it promotes anti-social behaviour, since the spider-heroine resolutely ignores the animals' friendly overtures!
The protagonist is female. No other genders are specified (although one assumes the cow is female, the rooster is male and the duck appears to be a female mallard), but it's not really a story with characters to identify with, just to entertain. There are no human characters.
Educational Stuff
This doesn't really teach anything, unless you count the animals and their noises. It does introduce the concept of spiders spinning webs and catching flies. The progress of the web-spinning is shown over different pages, which is a nice sequencing thing, although it's probably too complicated for the target audience to follow.
The art is done in Eric Carle's distinctive style, and although all the animals are coloured correctly (save the spider, which has a blue head and red body), it's not aiming at realism. The spider itself has a more anthropomorphic than arachnid face (two eyes and a nose). Due to the small size of the character, it's only really noticeable on the front cover.
Like a lot of Eric Carle's work, it encourages a left to right progression, with all the animals facing to the right. The first two pages of the book, feature the spider-thread trailing across the pages (ultimately leading to the fence where she spins), and older children can trace this from left to right with their finger.
The animals are loosely ordered by size, going from large to small--although they are not drawn to scale! It reads a little like a reverse of "There was an Old Woman who Swallowed a Fly", starting with a horse, and ending with the spider catching the fly on the suggestion of a bird.
Overall, it's probably the repetition (and the animal noises) that makes this a big hit with my children. After several iterations of 'The spider didn't answer. She was very busy spinning her web,' my daughter will turn to me, grinning broadly, when the spider catches the fly instead. My son was besotted with it at a similar age, and still enjoys it, but he never chooses it himself. He's moved onto more elaborate stories.
For a parent book recommendation, check out the series of books based on the webcomic, the Order of the Stick, the proposed reprints of which have been making Kickstarter history for the past month. Grown-ups can have picture books too!
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