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232nd out of 753 books
—
858 voters
Sophie's Masterpiece: A Spider's Tale
Sophie is an artist who wants to spin beautiful creations all day long and, someday, a masterpiece. As a spider, though, Sophie has a hard time finding a welcoming place in which she can be free to live and spin. She's shooed and shuffled all over Beekman's Boardinghouse until one day she finally finds the warm, comfortable, safe home for which she always yearned -- and th...more
Paperback, 32 pages
Published
April 27th 2004
by Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
(first published 2001)
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Sep 23, 2009
Abigail
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
Young Spider-Lovers / Jane Dyer Fans
Recommended to Abigail by:
Kathryn
Shelves:
picture-books
Review Temporarily Removed.
view all 7 comments
This book tells the tale of a spider, Sophie who is a passionate artist. She loves to weave webs to help people out. However, she finds it difficult to be accepted into homes and once she becomes aware her presence is not wanted she moves on to find a new home. She always stays true to herself, showing no hard feelings by the treatment she is giving by the owners of the house. It is not until she walked to the third floor to the house of a young woman she finally felt at home.
By this time, howev...more
By this time, howev...more
This is a beautiful, beautiful book. Sophie's Masterpiece is lovingly constructed with the same delicacy and care as the spider's web itself, reaching out to far corners and unexpected places with such a soft touch as to be more sensed than actually felt. E.B. White's magnificent book Charlotte's Web took a common, often-feared creature in the regular house spider and let us see it as something lovely, something to be marveled at and appreciated for its unique abilities and potential for good....more
I watched/listened to this story on storylineonline.net.
Sophie is an artist. She is also a house spider, but one that children will certainly cheer and not fear. The webs she weaves are spectacular--some are stars, or hammocks, or sun patterns--and her mama is very proud of her. When she grows old enough to strike out on her own, however, she is not warmly greeted by the world at large. At Beekman's Boardinghouse, a dull sort of place that "cried out for her talents," she only wants to beautify...more
Sophie is an artist. She is also a house spider, but one that children will certainly cheer and not fear. The webs she weaves are spectacular--some are stars, or hammocks, or sun patterns--and her mama is very proud of her. When she grows old enough to strike out on her own, however, she is not warmly greeted by the world at large. At Beekman's Boardinghouse, a dull sort of place that "cried out for her talents," she only wants to beautify...more
Sophie is no ordinary house spider. She is an artist, but no one around her seems to appreciate her beautiful work. Sophie's entire life she was rejected by her housemates at Beekman's Boardinghouse until one day thing change. The woman showed Sophie gratitude she had never seen. One day the woman was making a quilt for her baby when she ran out of yarn. Sophie realizes that she must put her all into her last "masterpiece." The woman loved the quilt and knew that this quilt was special and was e...more
Okay, to be honest, I got this book out of the library for me. The cover illustration was totally MB-bait; I was utterly helpless to resist the beauty/surrealism/whimsy of Jane Dyer's arachnid heroine. Rabbit, of course, wanted to read it immediately upon our return home, along with the usual stack of requisite dinosaur/truck/fireman books. He loved it. I loved it. It is a sweetly told tale about a beautiful little artist whose work goes unappreciated for a very long time(in spider years). She d...more
Sophie Spider spins artistic works of arts, yet the humans who inhabitat the boardingshouse where she lives do not appreciate her talent. They screech when they see her and destroy her works. As Sophie grows old, she nestles herself into a basket full of yarn. This yarn belongs to a young, poor mother who knits booties and sweaters for her baby-to-be. As money is tight, the mother has no more yarn to make a blanket. Sophie creates one last, loving, beautiful masterpiece. A blanket full of wishes...more
Sep 10, 2009
Kathryn
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Abigail, Chandra and Annie
Shelves:
childrens-picture-books,
very-favorites
I am in love with this book! So beautiful, so sweet, gently humorous, totally loving--yes, I am talking about the spider, Sophie. Sophie is a very special spider with webs of rare artistry. She wants to make life beautiful for humans but they don't seem to appreciate her or her creations--until one day when she finds someone worthy of her masterpiece.
The ending brought tears to my eyes and I kept thinking about this sweet story on the way to work! Also, it made me feel some compunction for makin...more
The ending brought tears to my eyes and I kept thinking about this sweet story on the way to work! Also, it made me feel some compunction for makin...more
sophie the spider goes out into the world to do something great, to create a masterpiece. she settles herself in this boarding house and attempts to help out the people who live there, but none of them accept her gifts and scream at the sight of her. sophie eventually finds a new mother who doesn’t scream at the sight of her, but welcomes her. the mother is poor though and sophie sees an old blanket covering the mother’s baby. sophie decides to make a new blanket for the baby, her masterpiece....more
Non-Print Review from http://www.storylineonline.net/
This reading of "Sophie's Masterpiece" is read by CCH Pounder, a film and TV actress. Her voice brought to life this magical story of Sophie, a beautiful and talented spider. I played this for my students and they were completely enthralled with the story and Sophie. They wondered when she would create her masterpiece and were worried that someone would kill her before she could do so. Beautiful story and a gorgeous reading.
Recommended for a...more
This reading of "Sophie's Masterpiece" is read by CCH Pounder, a film and TV actress. Her voice brought to life this magical story of Sophie, a beautiful and talented spider. I played this for my students and they were completely enthralled with the story and Sophie. They wondered when she would create her masterpiece and were worried that someone would kill her before she could do so. Beautiful story and a gorgeous reading.
Recommended for a...more
Beautiful book with such a tender, loving story. The soft illustrations are perfect. While it is a bit sad, it ends so lovely and would be great for bedtime reading.
Thanks to the information given by another reviewer, had an opportunity listen to CCH Pounder read this story aloud. The book is beautiful, and Ms. Pounder's expressive reading is marvelous. I heartily recommend it. No registration required, the site is http://storylineonline.net/
Thanks to the information given by another reviewer, had an opportunity listen to CCH Pounder read this story aloud. The book is beautiful, and Ms. Pounder's expressive reading is marvelous. I heartily recommend it. No registration required, the site is http://storylineonline.net/
This book is a good book to read aloud to a class. One thing that I loves about the book is that the spider was driven to find a place where she was accepted and able to create her masterpiece. Although it took her a while she continued to search until she found a place where she was able to work on her craft, In addition to this I think that the book emphasizes compassions (especially when Sophie finally finds a place to stay).
I thought this was a very clever book. I would introduce this to my students we when are studying insects. I would read this to them to get them thinking along the lines of that insects are not the scary creatures many of us think they are, but they have great helpful qualities too. I would read this book, and then have students find out the good things insects do for us and then have them share it with the class.
See and hear this story read by CCH Pounder with animated illustrations and background music at http://www.storylineonline.net/
I'm loving listening to actor's read these stories on storylineonline. This one is a story about a spider who has trouble going about to do her "work" until she finds someone who leaves her be so she can create her "masterpiece". A little sad, but good.
I'm loving listening to actor's read these stories on storylineonline. This one is a story about a spider who has trouble going about to do her "work" until she finds someone who leaves her be so she can create her "masterpiece". A little sad, but good.
Illustrator: Jane Dyer
Age: Elementary
Summary: A spider tries to find her place in the world and has to keep moving until finally finding a place where she belongs.
Applications/Uses: Could be a good supplemental text for reading Charlotte's Web because the spider does what she needs to do and passes away just like Charlotte. It is a nice, calm story so it might be a good read for calming down a class or a before-bed story at home.
Themes/Connections: Finding your place in the world, insects, circl...more
Age: Elementary
Summary: A spider tries to find her place in the world and has to keep moving until finally finding a place where she belongs.
Applications/Uses: Could be a good supplemental text for reading Charlotte's Web because the spider does what she needs to do and passes away just like Charlotte. It is a nice, calm story so it might be a good read for calming down a class or a before-bed story at home.
Themes/Connections: Finding your place in the world, insects, circl...more
I absolutely loved this book. The story was so cute, and how Sophie makes the baby blanket right before she does truly was a masterpiece. It's a shame she had to go through so much to get to that point though. The pictures weren't the best, but they didn't take away from the book any. It fit just right. I will be keeping this book for my class.
Sophie always has to avoid the dangers of being stomped on or hit by humans. She constantly has to move, but she does not let that stop her from creating beautiful pieces of work. This story would be good to teach students that everything is not as it seems. Beauty and greatness can come from the most unlikely places.
Bea and I found this book pretty disturbing actually! Seemed like a really nice idea but it didn't float our boat. A young woman having her baby, alone, in a dingy old boardinghouse and covering it up with the last web of a dying spider.... The illustrations were nicely done but the spider's legs come out of her abdomen (course - that is probably the least of the problems of accuracy that we should be concerned about.. :-))
Sep 08, 2012
Aviva Lavey
added it
Sophie's Masterpiece was simply written but very clever. They included good vocabulary for children to learn such as "dignity". The drawings were simply but nicely complimented the story. There was a nice moral saying don't judge someone by their appearance.
This children's book is very engaging and can be predictable. The spider will be liked by most students and the story can be used as a calmer for students after an energizing activity. The book also has vocabulary that can be discussed with the student.
What a fun little fairy-tale this is! Oh little girls would love this book and I can't wait to read it to my grand-daughters and reading group. It's so fun to find good books for small children. The illustrations are wonderful, if you're not familiar with the art of Jane Dyer as I was not this is a great time to become familiar with her.
An absolutely beautiful book. Sophie you have a done a wonderful thing <3
I'm not a big spider fan but I really loved Sophie. Great story based a real experience. The illustrations were warm. I loved the cover of the book where she is sitting on the thimble. The Cover is what caught my eye.
Sophie the spider makes wondrous webs, but the residents of Beekman's Boarding House do not appreciate her until at last, old and tired, she weaves her final masterpiece. www.hcpl.net
Another not-for-children children's book. Magical illustrations and sweet story, not totally engaging for a 3-year old boy.
I discovered this when I was visiting a 3rd grade class for read-aloud stories. A very sweet & touching story.
beautiful book about a very lovely spider. makes me cry every time. oh, and she has fab socks, too. x
What a beautiful children's book! I love reading this sweet story to my kindergartener.
Oh how time flies, but for spiders, time seems to fly 10 times faster.
Beautiful illustrations. I admit, the book made me choke up a bit.
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Eileen Spinelli, wife of famed children's author Jerry Spinelli, is an award winning children's book author from southeastern Pennsylvania.
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