Written by Stacy Bax and illustrated by Anita King, Sydney Spider is a beautiful story about friends coming together to help when all feels lost.
Harrison and I read this book together and he has read it twice more alone since, so I think it is definitely a winner. The illustrations are really beautiful, Anita King has infused so much sweetness and warmth into the main character, Sydney Spider that no one could possibly be scared of this little spider even if you do suffer from arachnophobia.
The story is written in rhyme and flows really well, it has a great rhythm and is spaced well for being read out loud and shared. It is simple to follow and is really kindhearted. It is a wonderful way to teach children to be a bit more respectful of the homes of the creatures that live around us with a focus on leaving spider webs alone.
The characters are all very sweet, we enjoyed the illustrations of the different animals paw prints but were a bit confused about how they followed the footprints because most of the animals are wearing (adorable) boots. It didn’t take anything away from the story though which is honestly enchanting.
From an illustration standpoint I feel like the front cover could have been different, the image is beautiful but it gives away the ending a little prematurely and as we were reading Harrison commented that he “thought that would happen because its on the cover”. The illustrations could also do with being a little sharper but that doesn’t take away from their charm.
Sydney Spider would be perfect for children who are scared of spiders because it gently introduces them to the fact that spiders are creatures that need protecting too. It is intended for children younger than Harrison and would be great for younger audiences but sometimes its good to remind older children of the importance of looking after creatures smaller than them too and picture books really shouldn’t have an age limit in our opinion. I’m 35 and will never grow out of picture books! It is also great if like me you have a fear of spiders that you don’t want to pass on to your children.
Sydney Spider is published by Stour Valley Publishing who were kind enough to send us this copy for review. We enjoyed it and think you should grab a copy from Shookbop.
Now we may be biased because the story is about a web but Harrison has awarded Sydney Spider 5 out of 5 webs and we are both looking forward to reading more stories by Stacy Bax and seeing more of Anita King’s illustrations.
Thank you for reading,
Samantha and Harrison x
By Samantha Webb 