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Ronyell's Reviews > The Spider and the Fly

The Spider and the Fly by Mary Botham Howitt
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鈥淭he Spider and the Fly鈥� is a beatifully haunting tale based on a poem by Mary Howitt and with gloomy illustrations by Tony DiTerlizzi. The story won a Caldecott Honor Award and is about how a creepy Vincent Price look-alike spider tries to entice an innocent looking female fly to come to his parlor and the book also explains the consequences of falling for the flattering words of strangers who are a threat to you. 鈥淭he Spider and the Fly鈥� is a great story that the whole family will enjoy, although small children might be creeped out by this book.

Mary Howitt writes a dazzling cautionary tale about how flattering words from a dangerous stranger can cause problems for the person who falls victim to the stranger鈥檚 elegant compliments. Mary Howitt displays this gothic story in a lyrical prose, same style as you would see in a Vincent Price movie. Tony DiTerlizzi鈥檚 illustrations are haunting and beautiful at the same time. The highlighted illustrations are the images of the past victims of the Spider as they are shown as transparent ghosts and they also foreshadow what might happen to the female Fly if she is not cautious about the Spider鈥檚 mysterious intentions about inviting her to his parlor.

Parents should know that the ending might worry small children. I will not reveal what happens at the end, but if you know about the spider and the fly food chain scenario, then you might have a clue about what happens at the end of the book. Parents should reassure their children that what happens at the end of the book is apart of the natural food chain of insects and even the Spider gives an afterword at the end of the book explaining about various spiders鈥� instincts and he even quotes about Charlotte being a predator in 鈥淐harlotte鈥檚 Web鈥� when she captures various insects for her meal.

鈥淭he Spider and the Fly鈥� is a great story about how a tricky stranger鈥檚 flattering words can be a downfall for young people who do not know the dangers of going near strangers that might have bad intentions, even though they are not aware of it. The book also points out that it is good to be extremely cautious around people you do not know for you cannot tell their true intentions until it is too late. This book will surely capitivate hearts of many children, but it is more suitable for children ages six and older due to the vocabulary being a bit advanced for a younger child and due to the unfortunate ending that will scare off many young children.

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Reading Progress

Started Reading
November 28, 2004 – Finished Reading
January 18, 2010 – Shelved
January 18, 2010 – Shelved as: animal-books
January 18, 2010 – Shelved as: creepy-ending
December 3, 2010 – Shelved as: read-in-2004
October 3, 2013 – Shelved as: children-s-book
October 3, 2013 – Shelved as: caldecott-honor
October 3, 2013 – Shelved as: picture-book
October 3, 2013 – Shelved as: my-blog-reviews

Comments Showing 1-9 of 9 (9 new)

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Brenda Just read this one, WOW love your review. Once again you really capture the book!


Ronyell Thanks Brenda!!! :D How was the book?


Brenda Wonderful, creepy and WOW what a strong message.


Ronyell Yay!!! I'm glad that you love this book!! This book was truly amazing!!!


Brenda 10th Anniversary addition coming with new artwork1 can't wait.


Ronyell Brenda wrote: "10th Anniversary addition coming with new artwork1 can't wait."

There's a 10th anniversary addition coming out? I can't wait!


Brenda Check out the authors page here and you'll see a sample of the poster, ahh it is wonderful.


Ronyell Brenda wrote: "Check out the authors page here and you'll see a sample of the poster, ahh it is wonderful."

Thanks! I will!


Ronyell Annella wrote: "This book truly emphasizes readers to be cautious in a pretty scary way as it uses death as the ultimate consequence. However, I agree parents should at least inform their children about the balanc..."

Yeah, I like how at the end, they inform parents about the way that spiders and their prey work in real life.


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