Tony DiTerlizzi, the illustrator of this week's Illustrated Friday pick, is indeed one of the authors of The Spiderwick Chronicles, but this book is by far my favorite.
The original poem "The Spider and the Fly," which was written in 1829 by Mary Howitt is included here in its entirety, and is basically a warning about stranger danger from start to finish. Take a gander at the first verse:
"Will you walk into my parlor?"
said the Spider to the Fly.
"Tis the prettiest little parlor that ever you did spy;
The way into my parlor is up a winding stair,
And I have many curious things to show you when you are there."
Creepy! The illustrations are in the style of old silent films and feature insects as all the characters (logically.) The villainous spider bears a striking resemblance to Snidely Whiplash, and the delicate fly heroine has big innocent eyes and oozes silent film starlet vulnerability. The last illustration of the book is positively ghoulish, which makes this a fun pick for Halloween.
In all seriousness though, the book ends with a letter from the "Spider" which drives home the message of the book (don't be taken in by pretty words) and makes this book a multitasker in that you could definitely use it to teach or reinforce stranger safety.
1 comment:
Excellent. This sounds like a book worth adding to the School Library. Thanks for sharing Emily.
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