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The Very Busy Spider
by
Eric Carle
With over 300,000 copies sold since its publication in 1985, The Very Busy Spider is well on its way to becoming a modern classic. The raised lines for the spider, its web, and an unsuspecting fly allow both sighted and visually impaired children to follow the action. Full color.
Hardcover
Published
by Philomel Books
(first published 1950)
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In this pleasant sequel to The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Eric Carle introduces a spider who, carried by the wind, lands on a fence post and begins to spin her web. In each two-page spread, a different animal approaches her, inviting her to participate in an activity familiar to them: the horse wants her to go for a ride, the cow invites her to eat some grass, the sheep invites her for a run in the meadow, and so on. The spider's response to each invitation is silence, because "She was very...more
One of the things that Eric Carle seems to be really into using animals for his books and I think it works for him! In this book, the main character is a spider—not something that many would use as a main character. The spider starts spinning his web and as he is spinning, animals periodically come and ask him if he wants to do things, such as run in the meadow (with the sheep) or take a nap (with the cat). The spider never answers though, because she is too busy spinning her web. At the end...more
This is probably one of my favorite Eric Carle books. Generally his artwork isn't my thing. Usually, the way that the text is layed out on the page with the style of his art is more annoying than pleasurable. I'm thinking of stories like The Grouchy Ladybug or The Very Hungry Catepillar where there is simply too many word that get into the way of a mediocre story line and art that tries too hard to be clever.
The Very Busy Spider is a different story. It is simple, like Brown Bear Brown Bear...more
The Very Busy Spider is a different story. It is simple, like Brown Bear Brown Bear...more
The Very Busy Spider is a picture book intended for nursery or primary readers. It is about a spider that is very busy spinning her web. Many different animals want her to play with them, but she is much to busy. If she doesn't get her web spun there will be no food for her to eat. Once she is finished her web a rooster asks her if she wants to help him catch a pesky fly. The fly lands in her web and all of her hard work payed off.
I found that there was not much to this book, and tha...more
I found that there was not much to this book, and tha...more
It is a great book for early readers. You can not only read it, but you can also feel it by touching the web. This simple story conveys lots of important information. It is a perfect introduction to learning about different kinds of animals and an opportunity to copy the sounds they make. The story begins one early morning when the spider starts to spin her web. Various animals such as the pig, the horse, the cat or the cow try to interrupt and invite her to join their typical activities, but sh...more
Elk jaar voert onze dorpsbib - wegens nijpend plaatsgebrek - een deel van haar collectie af. Boeken, strips, films, cd-tjes worden er tijdens een dolle week tegen 'n symbolisch prijsje aan de man gebracht. Dit jaar zijn alle stukken die meer dan 10 jaar in de rekken staan aan de beurt. Enkel 'klassiekers' ontsnappen aan hun lot.
Maar ook de omgekeerde beweging gebeurt gelukkig! 'Oude vertrouwden' die door kleine kinderhandjes al te beduimeld geworden zijn, worden opnieuw aangeschaft. En zo ...more
Maar ook de omgekeerde beweging gebeurt gelukkig! 'Oude vertrouwden' die door kleine kinderhandjes al te beduimeld geworden zijn, worden opnieuw aangeschaft. En zo ...more
This book is a fun way to introduce new words to children and familiarize them with sounds that different animals make. The perseverance of the spider can also proves to children that hard work may take a long time and you may have to make some sacrifices in the process, but it always pays off.This book can be used to introduce children to spiders and help them learn about how spiders live.
Extension
This story can be used for conducting a role play in the classroom. Children could dress...more
Extension
This story can be used for conducting a role play in the classroom. Children could dress...more
Very cute repetitive book. I love the books that have my daughter involved more than just turning the pages. She loved the embossed pages and had to touch each one while reading. After the first few pages, she could pretty much "read" the rest of the book to me -- with a little help -- of course. I can tell the repetitiveness is helping build my daughters confidence because she's actually HELPING me read. And -- THAT's something to be proud of. It also allows us to be silly when making...more
This book was honestly, pretty boring. I don't even think younger children would be that interested in it either. The story line was pointless and very short. As I read this book, I found that the pictures were unique and colorful which I did like. One thing that DID catch my eye was the little fly located in some spot on every page. I think that if this book was to be read to children that they would catch on and locate the fly, which would interest them a little bit more then the actual plot w...more
For me, this book ranks a close second behind The Very Hungry Caterpillar. But I think Gavin actually liked this one better. He loved touching the raised spider web on every page. And he's starting to appreciate animals and animal sounds more in his books. I liked how every page has the same basic structure, with the animal sound, a favorite activity of each animal that it invites the spider to join in on, and the same sentence every time about how the spider doesn't answer because she's so ...more
As a child, I always enjoyed this book. I wanted to know why the spider never answered his friends when they asked him out to play. I eventually learned that the overall theme of The Very Busy Spider shows children the concept of hard work as well as the appreciation for hard work because it beneficial in the long run. The Very Busy Spider is a great way to convey to children that life is not always about playing and that work comes before play. The illustrations are simple and the day by day...more
I remember reading this picture book when I was very young. I feel that is was very basic and for pre school/kindergarten children. This rich picture book describes a female spider's day spinning a web. Other animals on the farm ask if she wants to play, but the spider was too busy. One of my favorite things about this book is that the web embossed on the pages and you can touch them. For a young child that would be an interesting feature, almost like a pop-up book. The illustrations are humoro...more
When my son brought home another Eric Carle book from the library, I cringed a little bit. But since I loved his other animal books, I decided to forgive "The Little Cloud" and give this one a go. It was a copy where you can "feel" the web (it's gone over with ink that's raised off the page). Very neat, I liked that. Carle's repetitive style works great here with the spider spinning her web, and the animals look nice too. A little too repetitive maybe, but my son loved it. I'...more
The Very Busy Spider is about a spider and the process it takes to spin a web. The spider starts to spin her web on a fence post on a farm. A horse approaches the spider asking her if she wants to go for a ride, but she was to busy spinning her web to answer. Then a cow, sheep, goat, pig, dog, cat, duck, and a rooster all try to get the spider to do something with them, but she didn’t answer any of them she was too busy spinning her web. Once she was finish with her web she caught a fly in the w...more
This is about a spider who starts to spin her web. A bunch of animal friends ask her to things like take a nap or eat some grass and the spider never replies. She is always to busy building her web. She worked for a very long time and finally the rooster asks her if she wants to catch a fly. Once her web is completed she does just that. Then an owl comes by and asks who built the web but the spider does not reply because she had fallen asleep from such a long a busy day.
Uh... some pretty typical Eric Carle action here, what with the repetition and the thematic alternation. As usual, the illustrations are great; as usual, the stories wears a bit thin on repeated readings. SPOILER ALERT: the spider eats the fly (though "off camera", as it were).
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still our favorite around here.
The Very Hungry Caterpillar is still our favorite around here.
This book is an excellent book for read alouds with children becuase it has sound and feel incorporated into the story and illustrations. It's great for children because they can feel the spider we get larger as the story goes on. Also, they can see the other barnyard animals. A possible curriculum connection that could be used would be to have the children remember sounds of each animal, or just teach them the animals of barns and fields.
Ebony Hargett
rated it
·
review of another edition
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
math-related-childrens-books,
childrens-books
I used this book during Block 1 to create my large prop lesson plan and activity. This book is great for early readers and easy to understand. It is great for allowing students to create predictions during the story. There are many friends in the story and animals that children can relate to. I taught a lesson on sequence and ordinal numbers using visuals for students to place the friends in their ordinal sequence as in the story.
The Very Busy Spider – Eric Carle
Grade: K-1
Pages: 26
Theme: Animals, Work Ethic,
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Response: I had never heard of this book until viewing Eric Carle's web site. He's created some wonderful books, I thought it couldn't hurt to look it over. After looking over it in the school library, I found it's actually a pretty good book. While many people aren't fans of spiders, this could potentially help students learn to "tolerate" insects, spid...more
Grade: K-1
Pages: 26
Theme: Animals, Work Ethic,
Genre: Modern Fantasy
Response: I had never heard of this book until viewing Eric Carle's web site. He's created some wonderful books, I thought it couldn't hurt to look it over. After looking over it in the school library, I found it's actually a pretty good book. While many people aren't fans of spiders, this could potentially help students learn to "tolerate" insects, spid...more
Another beautiful piece of art with a story that really everyone should be able to relate to.
We all have stress, and this poor soul that is the main character has so much stress. So much, and does her best to keep up with her schedule that she - in fact loses friends. But at least her work is done.
In the end, we all must question the worth of balancing work and play.
We all have stress, and this poor soul that is the main character has so much stress. So much, and does her best to keep up with her schedule that she - in fact loses friends. But at least her work is done.
In the end, we all must question the worth of balancing work and play.
Wow, these illustrations are awesome! My sister pointed this book out to me in the library -- I'm embarrassed to say I had never heard of it. It's a really cute story to read to kids to demonstrate the importance of hard work and to introduce various kinds of animals. I like that you can actually touch the pages and you'll feel the spider's web. Very nice touch!
Another great book for identifying animals and imitating their sounds. The spider thread is lightly embossed on each page, allowing a fine texture that can be felt with the fingertips. This makes it very interesting to "feel" the spider web develop on each consecutive page. The tiny size of this book makes it perfect as a bring along anywhere.
Beautiful bright and bold illustrations, embossed pages that little hands can touch and feel. This story is about the life of a spider,how she spends her days.
Can be used to teach:
unit on spiders,
collages
adjectives
predictions
create class predictable book
setting/theme
character analysis
imagery
comprehension
vocabulary
Can be used to teach:
unit on spiders,
collages
adjectives
predictions
create class predictable book
setting/theme
character analysis
imagery
comprehension
vocabulary
This would be a great book to explore sequencing with students. Also you would be able to introduce the students to the various animals that are in the book as well. One activity that i did in my Kindergarten class was have the students sound out the names of the animals in the book; therefore we were able to practice phonics as well.
This is a wonderful book, Eric Carle is an incredible story teller and artist. He captures the young readers attention and keeps it throughout the book. The illustrations are Carle's classic style, with an added dimension. The book describes a spider's busy day in a very colorful, fun way. The spider is taken by the wind across a field and starts to spin a web. The other farm animals ask if the spider wants to play, with the same result each time "the spiker didn't answer. She was ver...more
This was my daughters favorite book when she was a baby. She learned animals and their sounds from this book. (It was read to her nightly, sometimes multiple times a night at her insistence.) I have not read the book in months but it is once again getting a frequent read (and chew), this time for her little brother.
The Very Busy Spider is another great book by Eric Carle. I love his books because they are all so simple, sometimes repetitive, and beautifully illustrated. Children will love this story, it's about a a spider who has a very busy day making a web. Every children's library will have this book in their collections.
Age: 0-2 years
Art: collage, die-cut pages
Simple introduction to animals and animals sounds. A spider is busy spinning her web while various animals stop by to ask if she would like to join them on their daily activities. The format of my book (not board) allows the listener to feel the web as it's being spun.
Art: collage, die-cut pages
Simple introduction to animals and animals sounds. A spider is busy spinning her web while various animals stop by to ask if she would like to join them on their daily activities. The format of my book (not board) allows the listener to feel the web as it's being spun.
This book was pointless like some kids books are, however I don't think there is anything that would keep readers interested in the book. I think that it was way too short and while it did have good color there was not much going for it. I was a little dissapointed because I enjoy Carle's book usually.
Amelia loves this little book. Perhaps its that she can recognize each of the animals and mimic their sounds. Perhaps it's because of the embossed pages of the spider's web. Either way, she chooses this book over and over again. It's perfect for her short attention span and developing intellect!
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Eric Carle (born June 25, 1929) is a children's book author and illustrator, most famous for his book The Very Hungry Caterpillar, which has been translated into over 30 languages. Since The Very Hungry Caterpillar was published in 1969, Eric Carle has illustrated more than seventy books, many best sellers, most of which he also wrote, and more than 71 million copies of his books have sold around ...more
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