Diary of a Spider

Written by Doreen Cronin

Narrated by Harry Bliss

The team that delivered the best-selling Diary Of A Worm spins another witty tale of an unusual protagonist and his unique view of the world. This time the hero is a spider, whose best friend is a fly, and though his world is experienced mostly from upside-down, and includes sticky webs and gigantic shoes, his musings will delight and reassure young readers!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Live Oak Media
• Release date: Jan 1, 2006
• ISBN: 9781430118176

Doreen Cronin

Doreen Cronin is the New York Times bestselling author of over twenty children's books, including The Chicken Squad series, Cyclone, and the Caldecott Honor Book Click, Clack, Moo: Cows That Type. A former attorney, she lives with her two children in Brooklyn, New York. For more information, visit DoreenCronin.com.

Reviews for Diary of a Spider

[abigailadams26 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Following up on their humorous Diary of a Worm, author Doreen Cronin and illustrator Harry Bliss present this picture-book diary of Worm's best friend, Spider. Opening in March (just like its predecessor), Spider's diary chronicles his home and school life, and his friendships with Fly - a departure from days of old, when spiders and flies were terrible enemies - and Worm.Although there is less of an ecological theme here than in Diary of a Worm, the same combination of humorous story and appealing artwork can be found in Diary of a Spider. Once again, I found myself amused by some of the details in Harry Bliss's decorative end-papers - Spider's favorite book is Charlotte's Web!, he thinks that a toilet bowl is a massive sculpture - and thought that the subtle social commentary, as it concerns tensions and prejudice between spiders and flies, was well done. Recommended to anyone looking for fun picture-books, or who enjoyed Cronin and Bliss's earlier title.

[meditationesmartini · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Spider had a good day. Animal lives are cool for kids because they are so weirdly different in a way that expands horizons in that classic "take you outside yourself" way that novels are supposed to but at an age where kids aren't really able yet to evaluate the relatively nuancedly weirdly different lives of their fellow humans.

[squeakychu · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I have no idea why my two-year-old grandson loves this book so much. He asks me to read it repeatedly. I would think that much of this book's humor would be over my toddler's head, but he sees a lot to love on its pages. We often talk about the pictures as well as read the story line. This is a book that I, at age 67 years, also enjoy reading. I guess I now need to look for Scholastic's other book entitled Diary of a Worm. Ha!

[tammyleduc · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

My son is 8 and loves this book as well as Diary of a Worm & Diary of a Fly. Great short reads before bed and imaginative.

[merryann-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Quirky fun! Happy pictures with great perspective. Clever words that keep me smiling all the way through the book. A pleasure to read and to re-visit.

[jjones58 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I loved this book (even though i despise spiders!). It is written in a diary format of a little spider as he goes through each of his days. In the diary entries, the author writes facts about spiders. For example, one diary entry reads, "May 7: Mom said I was getting too big for my skin, so I molted." The spider does daily activities just like any other child would so this book is easily relatable. The pictures are also very kid friendly and really make you feel like you're living in a bug's life! The message in this book is to give children facts about spiders presented in a fun and unique way that will keep children interested and engaged.

[caittbitt-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Diary of a Spider is a book about the life of a spider. The 'hand written' diary of the spider depicts the everyday trials and tribulations that he goes through. This book is great for students to read because they will be gaining knowledge about spiders and they don't even realize it. They would learn that spiders make webs, and molt out of their skin, or that baby flies are called maggots. Although this book is full of information about insects it also shares great lessons and ideas about friendship. Just because the spider is a different insect than his best friends fly, they still get along and stick up for each other when times get tough. This is a great lesson for children to learn that you can be friends with anyone you want!

[matthewbloome · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Like the other books in the series, this one was rather well done. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

[ydraughon_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A humorous story of a spider who keeps a diary of his daily life. He tells about the time that he took his molten skin to show-n-tell and his friendship with a fly. Grades K - 3.

[calamia_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A young spider tells his story of what it is like being a spider. Spider goes to school and learns that without spiders, insects would take over the world. Spider also learns how to spin a sticky web and what to do when you hear and see a vacuum, "Stop what you are doing, drop from the web, and run like crazy." Spider also spends alot of time with his best friendds, worm and fly. Together they teach each other what it is like for them in the world. Diary of a Spider is a great book for young children to teach about spiders and how they might spend their day. Also this is a great book to teach about friendships because spider mentions how it is unikely to be friends with a fly, but once you take the time to get to know somebody you might just get along. This book can be paired with Diary of a Worm to show how they are similar and different.

[dayehsensei · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book is part of the "Diary" series by Doreen Cronin that also features "Diary of a Worm" and "Diary of a Fly." "Diary of a Spider" features a spider, a fictional, fairly humorous storyline, and facts about spiders. What's wonderful about these books is that they teach young children about journals and diaries-- while also teaching them basic insect facts. Students will be preoccupied by the pictures and storyline and won't even realize they're "learning."

[crystalrushton · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Diary of a Spider is a narrative informational text that is super cute! The illustrations are bright and colorful, and the information is presented in such a fun and interesting way, all of which helps to captivate the readers interest. This book reads like a diary from the point of view of a little spider who is friends with a fly and who admires his grandpa greatly. The element of being told from the perspective of the spider adds an extra-humorous touch to the book as well. The book is jammed packed with information about spiders, such as how they use their webs to fly and how they molt, and presents the information in a funny way. I would recommend this book for students in both lower elementary and upper elementary. However, I would suggest that only advanced readers in the lower elementary grades read this independently because it contains many difficult and unfamiliar words for most students.

[mrswomackslibrary · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

What a great way to see the world through a bug's eyes! This is a very cute book that would be great to use in the classroom for younger grades to get kids introduced to and interested in journaling. The book takes the reader through a spider's world in sort of "a day in the life of" style. Definitely worth checking out!

[dangerlibearian · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I love this book, hope the kids get the humor as much as the adults do. Exactly what the title says, Diary of a spider.

[fvalle89 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

these books could be used to place ourselves in the shoes of animals and think how the world might be in their eyes.

[bgiancola_2 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This is a picture book that tells a story about a spider and has eye catching illustrations. This book is a story about a spider who has his own personality so that children can relate to him as a character but it also gives valuable information about spiders.The book has large print and only a few sentences on each page which make easy reading. This book would be great for beginning readers to read out loud. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 because the story and the pictures will keep the attention of children while providing great scientific knowledge about spiders.

[vnwender · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I found this book to be entertaining and educational. It tells what a spider goes through day to day. It also tells facts about spiders and things that they are afraid of. This is a great book to read when learning about spiders.

[calvetti_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This book was really cool. I really liked the way the spider was humanized and told his life story from his point of view. The story showed us some of the things that happen in nature - like the spider molting out of his skin. The story also showed us some of the spiders natural enemies -as well as the things that scare spiders. They had a vacuum drill in spider school - much like we have fire drills - that is hilarious... I know you're laughing right now if you're reading this...The animations are very real - sort of. They give human characteristics to all of the animals in the story - but all spiders have eight legs. They use a lightning bug to light up the room on one page. They talk about eating dinner with the Worm's and they eat leaves and rotten tomatoes. This book is worth the read. I found it very entertaining.

[leshauck · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Insects are great. Kids love them so authors write about them. This book is good for teaching about spiders and how they live. Grades 3-4