Miss Spider's birth is presented in singsongy verse and garish illustrations. After Miss Spider hatches, her mother is nowhere to be found. When a maternal beetle offers to take her in, Miss Spider knows her search for Mom is over. Youngsters may be too distracted by the mother's whereabouts to be moved by the treacly message that a mother is the creature / Who loves you the best. From HORN BOOK Spring 2000, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

In a smaller, simpler format, the latest book about Miss Spider takes readers back to her birth and subsequent search for her mother. This winning tale puts a new spin on the subject, for the just-hatched little Miss Spider never locates her biological mother (fans of Charlotte's Web will know why). Instead, Miss Spider adopts as her mother the green beetle, Betty, who has been assisting Miss Spider in her search all along. As the text explains, "For finding your mother,/ There's one certain test./ You must look for the creature/ Who loves you the best." The pictures of Betty cupping the tiny, dewy-eyed Miss Spider (with a cute oversize head) in her hands and bathing her in a walnut shell are heartwarming. In addition to a happy ending, the book offers danger and adventure: Betty narrowly saves Miss Spider from being fed to gaping-mouthed baby goldfinches. As always, Kirk's oil paintings glow with luminescent colors and, here printed on laminated pages, they closely resemble animation cells. Not only do Miss Spider fans now have a prequel, this tale will likely convert arachnophobes to arachnophiles, at least when it comes to Miss Spider. Ages 4-7. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Ages 4^-6. Kirk takes the plump protagonist of Miss Spider's Tea Party (1994) and its sequels back to hatchling days. There being no adult in sight when Little Miss and her many siblings emerge (children familiar with Charlotte's Web will know why), off the spider clambers to track down her mother. Printed on thick high-gloss paper, Kirk's paintings glow with dazzlingly saturated colors, and the gleaming, oversize bug eyes of Miss Spider and the various creatures she encounters on her brief quest will also catch children's attention. In the end, a kindly green beetle named Betty rescues Little Miss from a nest of newborn goldfinches and adopts her--an ending that makes this rhymed episode a horizon-expanding alternative to P. D. Eastman's Are You My Mother? (1960) and other hunts for misplaced parents. --John Peters

PreS-Gr 1-A prequel to the earlier stories. Here readers meet Miss Spider on the very first day of her life when the little arachnid is quite alarmed that she can't find her mother. "Did she squeeze down a hole?/Or dive underwater?/Why won't she come out here/And meet her new daughter?" With a helpful beetle named Betty by her side, she sets out to locate her missing mom. But, alas, none of the other insects have seen her. Fortunately, Betty comes up with another solution that suits both herself and little spider. Kirk's lively, photo-clear illustrations are, as usual, appealing. The eye-catching yellow spiders, green-and-blue beetle, and red centipedes almost jump off the page with a striking three-dimensional effect. Just right for preschoolers or beginning readers, this reassuring story, complete with a surprise ending, is a charmer.-Rachel Fox, Port Washington Public Library, NY (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.