Search - The Itsy Bitsy Spider (Board Book)

This is a great book to read to preschoolers. It goes beyond the original verse of the song. When I would read this to my kids, I would sing it instead. They loved it.

ISBN 1879085771 (hardcover) - If you're foolish enough to take on generations-old childrens' songs, you'd better do a very good job or expect to be tarred and feathered! I was, honestly, all set to hate this book... but Trapani did a fantastic job.

You know the story, you don't really need a recap. Spider, spout, rain, etc. Trapani, however, has added 5 new verses, giving our spider friend several new things to climb and obstacles to overcome. A fun way to add new life to a song you're likely to sing a million times before you're done!

I was unimpressed by the illustrations at first. They're nice, pleasant, okay... but then, I tilted the book and got a very happy surprise. In each illustration, there are areas that have a high gloss, making them appear to shine. Not the entire image, which would be overkill, but specific things. For example, when the rain washes the spider out, only the spider and some of the water has the gloss. It's a very minor but attractive little detail that transforms the images by giving them a little something extra. The music on the last page is another detail I really liked. Kudos to Trapani, may I stumble upon more of her work!

ISBN 1580890148 (board book) - I hadn't anticipated re-visiting this review but came across the board book edition today and felt compelled to add these couple notes: The board book lacks the glossy highlights in the illustrations, but does make up for it in another way. Rather than have the additional verses all tucked away in the back, they are all part of the text. This makes the book (therefore, the reading of the book by Mom or Dad) a bit longer and certainly that makes it more enjoyable! Even without the highlights, budding readers will love the illustrations, and the thicker pages make page-turning a little easier for small fingers. I stand by Kudos to Trapani, 100%!

Fantastic version of the classic rhyme.