A black and white delightful book, that begins with a spider trying to invite a fly up to a parlor with him. But the female fly is afraid to go because she feels that if she goes up there she will never be able to leave. But the spider tries to pull every tick he can’t to convince her that she need to go up there. He entices her with how nice the beds are; how great the food is and even compliments her on the way she looks. By the end of the story you will find out if she goes up to the parlor with the spider or does she leave like she said she will. It plays good against evil, while using a delightful poem to tell the story.

This week we have been talking about insects. So in the four and five year old class they already understand that spiders catch flies. So already you have a dividing of the class room. You had the girls sitting there hopping the female fly left and didn’t go up to the parlor with the spider. And then you had the boys wanting the spider to eat her. And by time I finish the book on the group where happy while the other was sad. This was one of the best group discussions we had.

For our first activity we read the book. Our second activity was to make spiders. And then next day our third activity was to make the fly. By then it was Thursday so I had them put on a play, but I allowed them to change the story ending if they wanted to. So I spit them up in groups of 4 and I first put my twist to the story. Then I gave them time to talk to each other and they put on there own story, and I have a group leave the story just the way it was. But we had some great changes to the end of the story. Great imagination. ( )

I absolutely loved reading this book with my class and they enjoyed it too! The story is about a spider who tries time and time again to get the fly to stay for dinner with him. The fly says no at first however, slowly but surely the spider enticed the fly to stay which eventually led to the fly being caught in his web. After I discussed the negative outcomes of peer pressure with the class I continued to make a connection with Red Ribbon week and how easy it is to fall into peer pressure. The students and I had a discussion on drugs, alcohol and tobacco use and how harmful it can be. ( )

This book is a great example of a fantasy because the spider and the fly are given human characteristics. They are both wearing real clothing and the spider has a house and everything! The spider talks with the fly and persuades her into a trap so he can eat her. Obviously in real life, the relationship between the spider and the fly is not like in this fantasy!
Characters: The spider is a great example of the antagonist because he is dark and evil and cunning and mischievous. The fly on the other hand is a great protagonist. The spider is a foil of the fly, he stands for all that is gruesome and dark and the fly is about peace and light. These characters make for a charming and interesting tragedy.

The story is depicted as a 1920's black and white movie theme. It is about a fly who is being pursued by a conniving spider. He attempts to lure her into his parlor. She resists, but eventually falls into his trap of deception. There is a message to the story for young people: just because someone appears to be appealing does not mean that they have good intentions. Always be cautious around strangers.

I absolutely loved the book. I even bought a personal copy. The story is very tragic but has a good lesson to it. We are all deceived by flattery throughout our lives. The illustrations are wonderful with great detail!

A teacher could have a classroom discussion about different types of flattery and how to politely refuse advances from flattery. A fun way students could do this is by dividing into groups and coming up with skits to act out what they have learned. Students could also read Hansel and Gretel and discuss similarities about flattery and deception between the two books. ( )

This is a humorous tale about how a cunning spider entices a very conceited and vain fly into the web. The drawings are beautifully done. It's a great read-aloud especially around Halloween and much expression and voice inflection can be used when reading it aloud. It would be an excellent choice for the comprehension strategy of visualization. The teacher could read this book aloud and then have the students draw some scene that they visualized in their mind when it is read. Then read the book again and show the pictures. ( )