Iza Trapani's The Itsy Bitsy Spider is a beautifully crafted book that provides illustrations for a very popular nursery rhyme. Each illustration is inspired by a lot of imagination, and the little song becomes a fuller and more engaging story. Trapani also creates some new verses for the song, which leads the spider into all sorts of new situations and challenges.
As you read the book with your child, you can choose to either sing the words or read them as a poem. Either way, the words carry a musical cadence that will make your child very attentive. The illustrations are soft and calming, which makes this book a good choice prior to naptime or bedtime.
My niece, Audrey, and I have been reading this book for years, and she continues to enjoy it even as she gets older. She loves to touch the illustrations because they are so smooth and glossy. She also now knows the first verse of the song, which enables her to sing along and feel like she is more involved with the story. I think I've read this book 100 times, but it still is a fun and engaging one.
This book is the best version yet. Beginning with the normal version and expanding even further when the spider's climbing is interrupted by a fan, a mouse, a cat, and some dew before she makes her way to the top of a tree to spin her web.
We love the itsy-bitsy spider song and my daughter is ecstatic to have more to sing! We're still working on getting the rest of the words down, but it definitely becomes a fuller and more engaging story. The itsy-bitsy spider goes on and on with new verses leading the spider into all sorts of new situations and challenges!
--Candice, Cumming, GA