Kirkus Reviews QR Code
AAAARRGGHH! SPIDER! by Lydia Monks

AAAARRGGHH! SPIDER!

by Lydia Monks & illustrated by Lydia Monks

Pub Date: Aug. 30th, 2004
ISBN: 0-618-43250-7
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin

The resident spider in a human family’s home would much prefer to be a pet than a silent bystander, but when she tries to dance fetchingly by the couch or show how clean she is (by hanging out in the bathtub), the family screams “Aaaarrgghh! Spider!” In a somewhat baffling development, it’s not until the blue-eyed, pink-lipped spider retreats to the backyard and starts to build sparkly webs (printed with actual silvery glitter) that the family decides the spider might make good pet material: “That spider is so clever!” “Maybe she’d make a good pet!” From then on, the spider goes shopping with mom, swings with the kids, and is walked on a leash like the pet of her dreams. When she gets comfortable enough to bring all her friends home, however, the story concludes with the family’s scream, “Aaaarrgghh! Spiders!” Monks’s cartoonish illustrations are lively and offer some genuinely funny moments, but they don’t save what is essentially a very lightweight story about how spiders are people, too. (Picture book. 4-8)