Customer Reviews

the very busy spider

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book at the same time as another one of Eric Carle's books - The Very Lonely Firefly, and while I could see the appeal of the latter, I really was not sure why this book would be appealing to my 18-month old. A few weeks down the line, I realized Mr Carle obviously understands children far better than I do.

My son absolutely adores the book, and I have to admit, I quite like it too. The structure is simple, repetitive yet diverse, engaging, and educational. At the beginning, we used to simply read the book cover-to-cover, but then we started using it in another interesting ways - like identifying the animals in the book, or, pointing to and creating the sounds of the animals. Altering the reading approaches has ensured that 3 months down the line, my son's interest, while waning, is still strong enough for him to go through the book attentively (which can be a very helpful to distract him in troubled times!) One particularly nice touch in the book was the spider web, which is embossed onto the pages, and thus creates an added "touch" sensory experience.

Whole-heartedly recommend the book.

Review by Sherry North, Author, Because You Are My Baby

Eric Carle is a favorite in our house, but this is one of his weaker titles. The illustration of the spider spinning her web barely changes from one page to the next, and there's no clever twist that "makes" the book, like in A Very Hungry Caterpillar. After reading it to our son once, he never seemed interested in looking at it again - but he does ask for Carle's other books often.

My youngest is a touch fanatic, and this book satisfies that craving for texture that lives in his happy little heart. As we read, his little fingers smooth over the web, and the tiny bumps on the spider and the fly. This book appeals to the senses: sight, sound, and touch.

This is a keeper.

My daughter (who is now 14) absolutely adored this book when she was little. Now we read it to my friend's 18 month & 4 year old girls and they too are in love with it. I can still recite the book and I love every page. The little ones are getting their own copy soon.

This is one of the best books I have ever seen for children. So glad it is available as a board book so the youngest of readers can enjoy! Consider buying this book along with another of Eric Carle's classic books to give as a baby shower gift, for a child's first birthday, or as a new arrival gift.

This book is one of his better ones- along with The Very Hungry Caterpillar and Brown Bear Brown Bear. The repitition of "She was very busy spinning her web" creates a rhythm to the story, the pictures of the animals on the farm are very beautiful and the ending is lovely. Yes- it's not a thrilling book but it is soothing and a great bedtime book because of its cadence and its culmination. My 13 month daughter has loved this one since being a few weeks old- she calms down and watches very intently and now is interested in touching the texture of the web in the book.

I have received and reviewed the book "The Very Busy Spider".
It is a very good book and nicely illustrated.

My husband bought this book for our 9month old daughter, Hayley. She absolutely loves us to read it to her. She loves to feel the spiders web and will mimic the animal noises. What a great book!