Jonnie

Billed as a book for spider lovers, this story tells about a lonely spider trying to find someone who won't run away from him. He is rejected and insulted at every turn, but he perseveres. All he wanted to do was share his Third Birthday cake! Too bad for those who judged him on his appearance. This is a pleasing but minor tale that will appeal to the very small - provided they aren't arachnophobes.

Johnny the spider has no friends because everyone is afraid of him. No one takes the time to get to know him and find out how kind, gentle and fun he can be. The idea here for me was two fold. 1. Don't be afraid of spiders and 2. Don't judge things by the way they look. The illustrations were great, they were large and colourful and definitely added to the story. The message is not quite as clear as in other books, so asking questions and discussing what is happening would be necessary if you want children to get the message. A good book for a primary classroom or a home library. The publisher generously provided me with a copy of this book via Netgalley.