Here is the first, a review of:
Aaaarrgghh! Spider!
by Lydia Monks
With a tactile cover and a lively illustrated core, Aaaarrgghh! Spider!, written and illustrated by Lydia Monks, is an entertaining and exciting story of a lonely spider searching for a family and understanding. The front cover shows a smiling spider with a heart shaped mouth, dangling down from a beautiful sparkly web and hovering over the head of a little girl whose hair is coquettishly mirroring the spider’s legs. The title lettering contains somewhat menacing hairs suggesting the fear many people inherently have towards spiders. This seemingly contradictory cover is an excellent beginning to an energetic book that suggests spiders may not be what they seem and this particular spider just wants to belong.
Spiders are common in virtually every part of the world. We find them in our showers, on our porches, making webs in the corner of a room. This book happily accepts that fact with one clear distinction; the spider is doing these things to gain attention from the family she has chosen. She wants desperately to show them her many skills and why she would make the best pet ever! Her attempts at proving herself balance well against the family’s pet dog, which seems to be doing the opposite at all times. The spider pops up in the bathtub, to show that she can clean herself, while on the opposite page; the dog is rolling in mud. She attempts to show her prowess at catching flies and feeding herself while the dog is sneakily attempting to steal a cupcake from the dining room table. She behaves on a leash (oh yes, a leash) while the dog is jumping and carousing disobediently.
The text is from the spider’s point of view; she states her purpose to be part of the family on the first page with determination and sets off to achieve her goal with examples of her skills. Much of the phrasing is repetitive (good for early readers): “Look at me! Watch me eat!...Look at me! Watch me swing!”, and the family’s constant retort “Out you go!”. She finally resigns herself to loneliness and states this to the reader just before being ultimately successful. She is generally optimistic and purposeful, and ever smiling. She is indeed, a very likable spider.
The illustrations drive the story with great force. She leads you through the pages with directional dashes and general movement. She seems to be in motion most of the time: swinging, dangling, dancing, she grabs your attention on every page. Also moving the story is the progression of time, you can see she has been trying to convince them for almost a year as green grass and leafy trees turn to brown, falling leaves and finally, snow. The illustrations also show us the nature of this family. The mother and daughter are similarly attired throughout, as are the father and son. Even the dog has scarves that link him to the family. They are kind-hearted, always moving the spider outside, never attempting to smash her. They have family photos including all of their pets on display: a hamster, a cat and a dog. Even these photos change reaction from smiles to shock at the first attempts of the spider (unfortunately, the last family room shot does not have the family photos any longer, I had hoped to see the spider in one).
Lydia Monks is well known for her use of collage illustrations. She uses photos added into drawn pictures as is, for example, there was a photo of real faucets on the tub. She also uses photos of fabric in the shapes she has constructed for the family’s clothes and accessories. Trees in one scene are simple tree shapes with photos of actual pine trees within. With each glance at a page, a reader discovers something new. In addition to this complex art, she puts tiny touches an adult might not see upon an initial read, but a child may focus on while scouring the pictures. When the family takes the spider for a walk, people in the background look shocked, and one little girl is even cowering behind a tree with her dog. In one spread with many spiders, some are riding the now-unhappy hamster with a harness, as well as driving a tiny toy car and reading a news article on…spiders. The colors used are many variants of blues and reds with yellow for emphasis in important moments (like the spider’s ultimate acceptance). The glittery webs on the cover exemplify the brilliance the family must have seen upon opening their door to a fall evening of beautiful webs. Lastly, the final pages are visually extremely evocative. Children will squeal with delight and possibly shiver with creepy-crawlies.
Aaaarrgghh! Spider! is a fun and lively book that is a great family read and re-read due to the kind-hearted nature of the story and the complexity of its illustrations. Parents will have fun reading this with their children while looking closely at the pictures for extra clues. Children (and adults) with a fear of spiders will appreciate the pleasant personification of a creature so often misunderstood and feared. It transcends well into discussions of the real beneficial qualities of spiders. It would also be a good choice for story time with the great fun that comes with crying the “Aaaarrgghh! Spider!” line, especially in a library where making a little noise is always welcome. It encourages us to be optimistic and determined when making new friends and to be kind and understanding to all creatures.
Cover image from:
Monks, Lydia. Aaaarrgghh! Spider!. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2004. Print.
