Customer Reviews

Up, Up, and Away

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My 6 year old daughter is a nature nut. A naturalist in the making, she loves to learn about nature and how to preserve it. We love Ginger Wadsworth's books because they are so entertaining while also educational for the entire family. Up, Up and Away continues the tradition. It describes the life cycle of a spider in such vivid detail, it's as though you are riding "spider-back" on it's back witnessing each life experience. From hatching and fleeing the sac, the threat of predators, to venturing out on their own only to start the cycle again. We look forward to the next adventure!

Remember the final scene in Charlotte's Web, when all Charlotte's babies say goodbye to Wilbur and blow away? This picture book shows what might have happened next. As hundreds of tiny spiders spill out of their egg sac, they spread out to search for food. The story focuses on a single female spiderling. The prose is both poetic and playful: "Spider grabs tight and spins a dragline, one sturdy silk thread to tie her to her rock. All around her, dozens of spiders bounce up and down like tiny yo-yos." Vigorous illustrations in watercolor, gouache, ink, and colored pencil add life and movement to Spider's story, from the greens of spring through the rich colors of summer to the yellow and brown of autumn. As winter approaches, Spider lays her own eggs. "She ties the sac tight, then dies, as mother spiders do every year," the text states matter-of-factly. This is not the end, of course. Come spring, hundreds of new spiderlings hatch, and in a nice turnabout, the text selects a male this time to spin a dragline and float away on the breeze.

A beautiful garden spider had just finished laying her eggs and was wrapping them up carefully so they would survive the winter. When she was finished, she tied "her egg sac tight to a twig." The colorful leaves were swirling and falling to the ground. Winter would soon come to the landscape. There were "hundreds of sisters and brothers" who were snug in their sac, but when spring arrived the warmth would be a signal the spiderlings that it was time to chew "a hole in the sac" and escape to the outside world. A sister spider tumbled out of the sac, quickly followed by her brothers and sisters.

Spider is quick and escapes the long, lunging tongue of a lizard, but some of her siblings are not as lucky. PLOP! Her "eight legs thrash as she turns and jerks, until she jams to a stop on top of a rock." She didn't want to tumble off the rock and quickly spun a dragline. Her siblings are moving and spinning all around her. They were all hunting for food, but other creatures view them as a tasty snack. A bluebird swooped down, but Spider escaped, rappelling down the side of the rock to hide in a crack. Predators abound, but Spider is hungry too and will roam until she finds a place of her own to build a web. No one had to tell her what to do. Before long she will find a home and winter will be upon her before she knows it.

This was a beautiful book that not only talks about the life cycle of the spider (arachnid), but will also teach children about the food web and the who-eats-who environment in nature. The story, along with the charming artwork, was fascinating and will be an excellent venture into nonfiction for the younger student. I loved the easy flow of the story and felt myself actual hoping that Spider would escape the clutches of her predators and make it to the next winter. In the back of the book is a page with more information about the Argiope aurantia, a "type of garden spider." This is a charming book that even the hard core spider hater just might enjoy!

"I learned a lot about spiders," my 8 year old granddaughter's first comment was after she finished reading the book. We were both enthralled as she read the book out loud, waiting to see what would happen next. She liked learning about their life cycles. When I read the book to two three year olds they were intrigued by the picture of the lizard. They loved the illustrations.

The screams, the panic, the terror, the killing. No, not a horror movie, but our house when a spider is spotted. It doesn't matter if it's a the size of a grain of salt or the size of a quarter, my 3 and 6 year old girls can spot one across the room. No amount of lecturing about their benefit to nature or their shyness helped. Thankfully there is now a book that teaches all that in an easy to understand, interesting format! Both the author and illustrator have a firm handle on what appeals to kids and have done an outstanding job of translating some good scientific information into a page-turning narration. The little girls may not list spiders on their list of favorite "animals," but at least they no longer call for immediate death. Their curiosity is piqued and it has become a favorite bedtime story. What an accomplishment!

What a wonderful way to spend a summer afternoon: reading a delightful new book to my grandchildren while enjoying the sunshine on our back porch. This story is full of interesting spider facts, yet tells an engaging story that appealed to me as much to them! Great vocabulary, terrific illustrations held the interest of both the 4- and 6-year old. They wanted to hear it again, right away, but decided to go search the garden for spiders!

My two-and-a-half year-old granddauther was so thrilled with "Up,Up,and Away" she would not even blink while it was being read to her! She lost herself in this book. True, she loved spiders prior to "Up" but now she knows so much more about them! I had to read it to her four or five times while babysitting and she's learned to say "arachnid" and count the legs on the spiders. Detailed, exciting illustrations, clear prose and lots of delicious facts! I know I'll being reading "Up" to Isabel until she memorizes it! I think this is an exceptionally fine non-fiction title for children 2-8.

Reading this book made me nostalgic for the days when sharing a book with my children was a part of our daily experience. "Up, Up, and Away" is a perfect book to read to children. It has lyrical language, loads of educational value, and wonderful artwork. I could picture us lingering over each page and exploring the details from lizards to lichens to fireflies.