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mat_tobin's review
3.0
One of the books from the 'Read Me - National Year of Reading' collection published by Hodder in 1999. I loved the idea behind these books as a way of bringing pleasure back into reading and raising standards. A new book was published each month by a range of authors with this one being the October choice - creepy enough for Halloween. This story of a renegade spider from Jamaica who remains hidden in a bunch of bananas, is full of humour and light tension. Usually, Tommy is unphased by spider but there is something odd about this lurker - it just won't stop growing!
3 stars is being a little gracious here but Moore's humour carries it. Children will enjoy the repeat viewings of the spider as it grows and grows and grows and the delightful sense of the carnivalesque as the boys are the experts and the grown-ups, much to their cost, are the non-believers.
A short novel for younger, confident readers, I found some of the figurative language oddly chosen but know that the spider will be a welcome enough pull for many readers. Perfect for confident Y2 readers and those in LKS2.
3 stars is being a little gracious here but Moore's humour carries it. Children will enjoy the repeat viewings of the spider as it grows and grows and grows and the delightful sense of the carnivalesque as the boys are the experts and the grown-ups, much to their cost, are the non-believers.
A short novel for younger, confident readers, I found some of the figurative language oddly chosen but know that the spider will be a welcome enough pull for many readers. Perfect for confident Y2 readers and those in LKS2.
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