Miss Spider's Tea Party

Miss Spider's Tea Party

by David Kirk

Readers are cordially invited to the most charming tea party ever tossed by a lonely, lovable, ladylike spider. With vibrant oil paintings and elegant rhyming verses, renowned toy designer Kirk serves up an irresistible story about the rewards of kindness and the importance of friendship.

Children will fall in love with this tale about Miss Spider, an adorable, sweet-natured arachnid, who simply wants some insect friends to join her for tea. The illustrations are bright and colorful with extra special touches, such as Miss Spider's big green eyes and freckled nose, which make the bugs more easily relatable. The tea party theme is perfect for grabbing the attention of youngsters. The rhymes create a nice flow from one line to the next while the counting from one-to-12 theme is perfect for early preschoolers.

In addition to helping your child practice counting the various insects, this is a great book for teaching simple lessons in kindness and friendship. When Miss Spider eventually wins over the other bugs by showing compassion to the poor wet moth, the other insects learn that sometimes you find a friend when you least expect it. It also shows that first impressions aren't always as they seem, such as when the bugs learn that Miss Spider is a vegetarian and has no interest in making her new friends her latest snack.

The newfound friendship between Miss Spider and the insects seem to have made the day of Emily, the three-year-old I babysit. She was thrilled to see that they were all friends at the end of the story and sharing a cup of tea and cupcakes. She also found the spider to be cute and sympathized with her when no one wanted to be her friend.

--Abby