The Spider and the Fly

Howitt, Mary. The Spider and the Fly.  Illustrated by Tony DiTerlizzi. New York: Scholastic, Inc., 2002.

Based on the 1820’s poem by Mary Howitt, Tony DiTerlizzi chose to create a creepy mood for the book. The poem has become a cautionary tale of sorts – watch out for the dishonest people in this world. Rather than a traditional spider web, DiTerlizzi chose a Victorian house as the setting for the story. Because the poem is an old one, he chose black and white for his illustrations.

I introduce this picture book to my second graders with a video of Tony DiTerlizzi taken during a school visit. While he doesn’t read the whole story on the video, what he does read is done in a “creepy” voice which helps set the mood of the story. He also explains a little of his creative process. The kids really do love this book.

As part of this story time, I lead the students in completing a Venn Diagram comparing the two characters in the story. The diagram, along with some other worksheets are available on Teachers Pay Teachers.

The Spider and the Fly is available from Amazon. Thanks for using this affiliate link – doing so does not cost you any more but does help support this children’s literature blog.