Lydia Monks
Egmont
Age 3-5
This beautiful picture book explores the story of a spider who wants to be a family pet and the family’s less than enthusiastic reaction to this. We see the world from the spider’s point of view; when she is on the ceiling, the family below are upside down! The glittery webs make this book a visual and tactile delight. An appealing and amusing story which may inspire children to find out more about spiders and perhaps conquer any fears they may have as well!
Share the story
Read aloud
Before reading the book feel the glittery webs on the covers together. Read the first page then pause to talk about the spider and the family, turning the book upside down to look at them closely. How might the spider persuade the family he would be a good pet? Read the rest of the book pausing to talk about the story or illustrations when your child wants to.
Join in
When you read the story again encourage children to join in with repeated lines eg ‘Look at me watch me’… ‘Aaaarrgh spider!’ and ‘Out you go!’
Talk about the story
Talk about how the spider and the family feel at different points in the story. Can children make surprised, frightened or sad faces to show the different feelings of the characters? Choose favourite pages to look at again together and talk about what you see.
Watch the story
From Christine Hsu
Emma commemts
'My daughter (age 3) loves Aaaarrgghh Spider. Initially confused by the upside down page, she loves tracing her fingers along "Ahhhh spider, out you go!" and shouting the words while I read the other parts of the book. Since hearing the story for the first time, she has been making up stories that her mummy found an enormous spider in the bath and shouted "Ahhhhh spider!" We have been web hunting in the park and she was excited to find that a "floating leaf" was attached to a piece of web hanging from a tree. She also had lots of fun making a sparkly web and drawing the insects caught in the web.'
Emma commemts
'My daughter (age 3) loves Aaaarrgghh Spider. Initially confused by the upside down page, she loves tracing her fingers along "Ahhhh spider, out you go!" and shouting the words while I read the other parts of the book. Since hearing the story for the first time, she has been making up stories that her mummy found an enormous spider in the bath and shouted "Ahhhhh spider!" We have been web hunting in the park and she was excited to find that a "floating leaf" was attached to a piece of web hanging from a tree. She also had lots of fun making a sparkly web and drawing the insects caught in the web.'
Things to make and do
Retell the story with a spider prop
Find out here how to make a pom-pom spider. Encourage your child to retell the story with it. You might like to make up other spider stories together as well.
Become a spider spotter Look for spider webs and spiders in the garden together and talk about what you see. Give children a small zig zag book to draw and write what they see.
Make a picture
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