Customer Reviews

Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale

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Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale , written by Eileen Spinelli and illustrated by Jane Dyer is one of the very best children's book I have ever read.

The story concerns a spider named Sophie. Sophie doesn't just spin a web--she weaves extraordinary works of art. Everyone who knows her is in awe of her talents.

She strikes off on her own to a drab little boarding house where she takes up residence and weaves her wonderful webs--but none of the people there care for her webs--or for her, for that matter. Except for a boarder who is expecting a child. She welcomes Sophie into her room and as she knits clothes for the baby Sophie, now old and frail, weaves a special baby gift of her own.

Warm and touching without being maudlin, Sophie's Masterpiece is a kind and loving story with extraordinary illustrations the dazzle on their own yet blend perfectly with the tale.

I have given this book as a gift to many children and am told time after time that it soon ranks as those kids favorite book.

Sophie's Masterpiece is a masterpiece, indeed!

The illustrations in this book are the most beautiful and expressive that I believe I have ever seen. They say "a picture tells a thousand words." One look at the picture of old Sophie creating her final masterpiece brings tears to my eyes. And what a beautiful story and gentle lesson about perserverence and kindness. Both of my daughters adore this book, and my best friend still hates me for buying it for her daughter because she says it makes her cry every time she reads it.

I bought this book for my 5 year old, whose name is also Sophie. The book discusses the journey of a spider through the years and her last loving gift before expiring. If your children know about Charlotte's Web, then they understand that spiders do not live forever and that makes the ending a little softer. We loved this book. Buy it you will not be disappointed.

I read this book as part of our spider unit. My third grade class was absolutely enthralled with this beautiful story. When nine year old boys are wiping their eyes along with the teacher and the girls, you know you've got a special book.

This is the second children's book of writer/illustrator team Eileen Spinelli and Jane Dyer who have the ability to create instant classics in the children's book department. In Sophie's Masterpiece, thier second effort together, Sophie the spider is a web-spinner extraordinaire whose works go largly unappreciated by the residents of Beekman's Bordinghouse. By the time Sophie finds a comfortable home with a "young woman" on the thrid floor, she is very old and tired - but she finds the strength to spin one last work of art for the young woman's new baby. Spinelli has taken the cycle of life and death and created a story that, while ultimately sad at the end, does not dampen the wonderful feelings you have for Sophie's selfless and beautiful act. Dyer's watercolor illustrations are perfectly in tune with the story and are incredibly detailed from Sophie's shadow on the staircase to the individual strands of each of Sophie's webs! A truly beautiful book all the way around.

Sophie's Masterpiece is just that. So well crafted by Eileen Spinelli with just the right choice of beautiful words. It is a sheer joy to read this one out loud to First graders up through Middle school.

I don't like to limit myself on reading so I read everything that interests me. Lately I find a great joy in acquiring and reading children's books even though I don't have any kids of my own. Sophie's Masterpiece is so touching and so beautifully told. It proves that you don't need a 500 page book to convey a message. The wonderful illustrations make the book even more enchanting. This is a classic book and a keeper. I'm also not a spider lover but I now have an appreciation of their art even if I still have to convince myself that they are as cute as Sophie.

Sophie is a sweet, caring, talented spider who weaves wonderful things for herself and the people she cares about. She says good-bye to her mother and strikes out on her own to beautify a boarding house. Her gifts are rejected by the staff there, sometimes even before she has a chance to spin them, but fortunately she discovers a young woman resident, knitting. The spider realises that she is knitting for a baby, but before a blanket can be knitted, she runs out of yarn. Sophie steps in to make the blanket for the baby, and the young woman accepts it with happiness.

The illustrations are nice, even if the spider is a little silly with her 8 multi-color socks. The picture of the mother with her baby in a bassinet by her bed is sweet, as the mother sleeps with her hand on her baby. I can only imagine that soon the little one will be snuggled in bed with her mama and they will both be wrapped in the blanket made by the caring spider.

As an elementary school teacher with over 30 years experience, I have found this book and all of Eileen Spinelli's books to be the highest quality literature for children. She writes with unerring clarity, sensitivity to the inner child, humor, compassion and human nobility. Children read her books with deep interest, laughter, care and sheer joy. She is clearly one of their favorite authors! I highly recommend all her books, with a Gold Star for another masterpiece of hers, _Someone Loves You, Mr. Hatch_.

I recently bought this book for my daughter. We both love it.

Sophie the spider is more talented than most. Everybody knows that someday Sophie will spin a masterpiece. When she comes to that point in life where a spider must "strike out on her own" Sophie finds herself at Beekman's Boardinghouse. It's a dull, drab place that cries out for her talent!

But her efforts go unappreciated at every turn. She tries to spin curtains for the parlor, make a colorful suit for a sea faring captain, and weave new slippers for the cook. Each time she is discovered and greeted with disdain or fear.

Sophie climbs her way to the very top of the boarding house stairs and makes her way to the knitting basket of a young, pregnant woman. This time when she is discovered the woman only smiles. A now frail and elderly spider, Sophie watches as the woman knits a pair of booties and a sweater for her soon to be baby. But when the yarn runs short there will be no baby blanket. The landlady offers a rough, scratchy old quilt that Sophie has encountered on her journey through the boarding house. Sophie knows that for a baby's soft skin it will never do. Sophie knows she is the only one to remedy the situation.

So she sets out to weave a blanket for the child even though she is feeble and weak with age. She goes to the wide windowsill and spins a blanket with her own soft silk and moonlight, starlight, lullabyes, playful snowflakes, and other wondrous snatches of the lovely world. Just as the baby is born Sophie hears the cry of the newborn and right there spins in her very own heart (be prepared for your eyes to tear up). Sophie has created her masterpiece.

Is this spider reminicent of the loveable Charlotte? Yes, most certainly. Nothing wrong with that. We could use more selfless, giving, artistic spiders in the world, after all. The art is very different too. You would never imagine a spider being pictured in quite this way, but I feel it works.

The language is poetic and soft, gently leading the reader along to the conclusion. Be sure to have your child run their hand along the book's cover to "feel" Sophie's web, which is slightly raised and also "glimmers" when held in the light. Also check for fun details. Sophie uses a thimble for stool and a bobby pin for a cain. She weaves colorful stockings--eight in all, one for each spidery leg!

If you want a fun contrast read this book with The Spider and the Fly, the classic cautionary victorian-esque poem by Mary Botham Howitt newly illustrated by Tony Diterlizzi. The spider in that book is completely opposite of Sophie, but the message is equally wonderful in a completely different way (a caldecott honor). Children will have a blast contrasting the two spider characters! (And I might add that it's an excellent reminder that there are also both good and bad people in this world).