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The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out! (Big-Time!)

by Troy Cummings
40p. 978-0-37586-582-4.
COPY ISBN
Gr 1-3 Everyone knows the old nursery rhyme, but this clever picture book focuses on what happens between the spider's being washed out of the waterspout and finding the courage to climb it again. Eensy, embarrassed by her fall, goes into hiding and vows to keep all eight legs on the ground, until her ladybug friend, Polly, encourages her to start small. Eensy faces her fears and climbs a potted plant, then a fireplug, a dog, and a mailbox. Her confidence growing, she scales higher and higher objects, until finally the rocket she climbs takes her to the Moon. With a clever text full of witty asides (the newspaper "Spider Insider: All the News That's Fit to Spin" covers the story); comical, cartoon illustrations featuring Eensy in a striped scarf; and energetic pacing, this title offers a contemporary take on an old favorite that remains grounded in the emotional world of a child."Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD" Copyright 2010 Media Source Inc.
The story begins familiarly but takes a detour: Eensy Spider refuses to climb back up the fabled spout ("If I had a neck, I could have broken it!"). The book is less a witty parody than an excuse for a run-of-the-mill perseverance pep talk. The art's old-fashioned quality is appropriate in a tale inspired by an ageless children's song.

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