The Eensy Weensy Spider Freaks Out! (Big-Time!)

by Troy Cummings, Troy Cummings (Illustrator)

Overview

Artist Troy Cummings has created a clever spin-off of the "Eensy Weensy Spider" nursery rhyme in this humorous picture book, sure to appeal to kids and adults who also love fractured fairy tales.

The Eensy Weensy Spider climbed up the waterspout . . . and everyone knows what happens next! By the time the sun comes out to dry up all the rain, the Eensy Weensy Spider has freaked out over her washout, big-time! "There's no way I'm climbing back up that gutter!" she says. Eensy has lost her climbing courage, but with the help of her best ladybug friend, Polly, she begins to take on bigger and bigger climbing challenges until she's rewarded with the most spectacular view of outer space that any bug has ever seen! Hilarious text and a retro, graphic art style take this popular nursery rhyme to new heights. There's also a fun size chart on the end pages for kids to track Eensy's progress as she tackles taller and taller objects. Spin-offs of children's songs and nursery rhymes are very popular with kids, parents, and teachers!

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780553496727
Publisher:	Random House Children's Books
Publication date:	10/27/2015
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	AD560L (what's this?)
Age Range:	3 - 7 Years

About the Author

Troy Cummings has been drawing and writing since he was an eensy weensy kid. His illustrations have appeared in newspapers and magazines, on Web sites, on frozen-fish-stick packages, and in hospital waiting rooms. This is his first book. He lives in Greencastle, Indiana, with his cat and his family. Visit his Web site at www.trox5.com.

Editorial Reviews

Cummings’s debut children’s book uses humorous illustrations and clever text to envision the emotional aftermath of the events of the familiar nursery rhyme. After getting washed out of the waterspout, the timid brown spider—with her grade-school hairdo and striped scarf—vows, “I’m sticking to the ground from now on,” and tells her ladybug friend, Polly, “I’m all washed up!” Eensy is embarrassed that her mishap has even made it onto the Web (“Slippery Spout Spooks Spider” reads a headline), but with Polly’s encouragement, she conquers her fear of heights and regains her spunk by starting small and climbing higher and higher. Cummings provides a satisfying red herring of an “ending” as Eensy eventually works her way up to climbing a huge crane whose wrecking ball announces “The End,” to which she protests, “Wait! It’s not over yet! I can climb way higher than that!” and proceeds to demonstrate just that over several more pages. The spider’s delight in her accomplishments and her steady climb to success provide a gentle template for small readers with their own fears to overcome. Ages 3–5. (May)

Publishers Weekly

Gr 1–3—Everyone knows the old nursery rhyme, but this clever picture book focuses on what happens between the spider's being washed out of the waterspout and finding the courage to climb it again. Eensy, embarrassed by her fall, goes into hiding and vows to keep all eight legs on the ground, until her ladybug friend, Polly, encourages her to start small. Eensy faces her fears and climbs a potted plant, then a fireplug, a dog, and a mailbox. Her confidence growing, she scales higher and higher objects, until finally the rocket she climbs takes her to the Moon. With a clever text full of witty asides (the newspaper Spider Insider: All the News That's Fit to Spin covers the story); comical, cartoon illustrations featuring Eensy in a striped scarf; and energetic pacing, this title offers a contemporary take on an old favorite that remains grounded in the emotional world of a child.—Kathleen Kelly MacMillan, Carroll County Public Library, MD

School Library Journal

A fresh, inventive debut presents an I-think-I-can version of the Eensy Weensy Spider. After the waterspout incident, Eensy is too shaken up to climb back up the spout again: "If I had a neck, I could have broken it!" Holed up after this embarrassing news spreads over the Internet, Eensy really needs the pep talk her ladybug friend Polly gives her. Advising her to start small, Polly sticks with Eensy as she, tentatively at first, climbs increasingly taller objects, reinforcing her efforts with positive comments all the way. A metaliterary attempt to end the tale fails when Eensy declares: "Wait! It's not over yet! I can climb way higher than that!" And she proves to readers that indeed she can. The hip, retro artwork portrays a stylish argyle spider who accessorizes with a striped scarf and flower in her hair, a modified pageboy that usually conceals six of her eyes. A groovy alternative to the traditional nursery song, this not only models problem-solving but how to be a good friend as well. (Picture book. 3-6)

Kirkus Reviews