Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

Sammy Spider

Sammy Spider's First Trip to Israel: A Book About the Five Senses

Rate this book
Sammy Spider joins the Shapiro family on a vacation, and he uses his five senses to experience Israel.

32 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2002

Loading...
Loading...

About the author

Sylvia A. Rouss

66 books14 followers

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
11 (39%)
4 stars
11 (39%)
3 stars
4 (14%)
2 stars
2 (7%)
1 star
0 (0%)
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
Profile Image for Julie  Ditton.
2,165 reviews108 followers
February 19, 2025
This time Sammy Spider has left the web! When the Shapiros take a trip to Israel, Sammy is a stowaway on Josh's toy El Al airplane. He joins the family as they tour the country and takes in all the sights and sounds. Rouss weaves together a tour of Israel with a lesson on the five senses. As usual, the colorful illustrations by Katherine Janus Kahn will make you smile.

The Read-Along editions of ebooks with audio by Kar-ben are a versatile addition to a child's print library. Parent's can mute the volume and read the book to their little ones like a regular ebook. But these editions also allow youngsters to enjoy their favorite books independently. They are also a fantastic tool for emergent readers who can listen to the book as they read the highlighted text.
Profile Image for Kristi Betts.
544 reviews7 followers
July 23, 2013
Sammy, the little spider, is a stowaway in a model airplane given to a young boy, Josh,right before he and his family leave on a family trip to Israel. As the family travels through Israel, Sammy learns the various meanings of "Shalom" (hello, goodbye, & peace). He also describes his experiences strolling along Disengoff Street, on a farm, the Western Wall, the Negev desert, the beaches of Eilat, floating in the Dead Sea, and then celebrating Shabbat at the synagogue using his five senses (I didn't realize spiders had five senses like people, but it is a fictional story, right?). When he returns home he reviews each of the senses as he describes his adventure to his mother.

The illustrations are bright and cheerful and seem to be created using cut / torn paper (solids and possibly handmade and dyed). The detail included in the illustrations is wonderful considering there are no drawn elements.The Jewish culture is depicted in a respectful manner and clearly gives a broad picture of the various areas to travel while in Israel.

The text and illustrations for this book have a copyright year of 2002. I believe the ebook version is how this book is being re-released at this point. There are ten other titles in the Sammy Spider Ebook series. Kar-Ben Publishing is a division of Lerner Publishing Group dedicated to publishing "fiction, nonfiction, and activity books reflecting the rich diversity of today's Jewish community".

I would recommend this title to be included the ebook collection of libraries serving young children. I don't believe the title should be restricted to libraries with a large Jewish population as this story can be informative not only on travel, Israel, and the Jewish culture, but also the five senses, which we all have in common.

*To comply with new guidelines introduced by the Federal Trade Commission, Kar-Ben Publishing has provided a complimentary electronic copy of this book through NetGalley.com.
Profile Image for MartyAnne.
486 reviews16 followers
May 23, 2013
I was able to read a pre-publication version of this book!

TITLE: Sammy Spider's first trip to Israel.
AUTHOR: Sylvia A. Rouss
ILLUSTRATOR: Katherine Janus Kahn

Sammy Spider lives in a Jewish home with the Shapiro family. Sammy has had many adventures learning about Jewish customs, and holidays in this home. Now, in THIS book, Sammy spider crawls into a little toy El Al plane and ends up part of the Shapiro luggage as they take a life-sized EL AL plane to Israel. Sammy Spider is up for the adventure, using all his senses. He sees, hears, smells, tastes, and touches many new things while in Israel. He also misses his mom, and wishes she could be there with him to see, hear, smell, taste and touch so many new things.

Sammy spider visits the wailing wall, the dead sea, and many other wonders in Israel. Sammy also learns many meanings for SHALOM. It can mean hello, or goodbye, or peace, what a useful word!

A great book, part of a great series, produced by Kar-Ben publishing, who also helps to publish the Sesame street SHALOM SESAME books.

NOTE ON ILLUSTRATIONS: Just gorgeous. The illustrations appear to be partly watercolor paint, and some 3D effects with collage-like torn paper layers. WOW.

END: Sammy reunites with mom and falls into a nice nap. Very reassuring ending.

TAGS: Learn about Judaism, children's book, Israel, EL-AL, Five senses, vacation, trip, falafel, olives, halvah, Kar-Ben publishing

PERMALINK: http://martysreads.blogspot.com/2013/...
Profile Image for K.L. Bernard.
Author 1 book23 followers
May 27, 2013
Sammy Spider is very curious. When he learns that Josh and his family will be going to Israel, he becomes even more curious. His mother thinks he is silly. When Josh's mother brings home a toy plane that looks like the when they will fly in, Sammy goes inside the little plane to check it out. It's too late for Sammy, he too is on the way to Israel as Josh picks up the toy plane and dashes to a waiting taxi. Young readers will enjoy all the sights and sounds of Israel as Sammy shares his experiences. Little readers will learn Hebrew words, foods and so much more. Colorful illustrations depict a modern day Israel.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews