October is a great time to discuss and explore spiders, but really you can do this any time of the year. This post shares spider children’s books that you can use for this purpose. All of the picture books on this list lend themselves to this topic really well. Take a peek below to learn more about these spider children’s books!
5 Spider Children’s Books
Below is a list of some of our favorite spider children’s books to share with elementary students. They are part of our Spider Book Companion Bundle. Check them out!
1. Diary of a Spider by Brenda J. Child
The book, Diary of a Spider, follows the life of Spider over the course of a few months. Spider does many things that children do. He spends time with his parents, grandparents, and siblings. He also goes to school, learns new things, and spends time with his friends.
Spider goes to sleepovers, the park, and learns many things from his Grampa. Spider has a good friend named Fly and stands up for her no matter what. At the end of the story, Spider writes that he wishes people wouldn’t judge spiders before they get to know them.
Check out these Diary of a Spider teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
2. Anansi The Spider by Gerald McDermott
Anansi the Spider is a West African folktale that takes place in Ghana. It tells the story of Anansi the spider and his six sons who each have a different skill. One day, Anansi wanders too far from home and runs into trouble.
Anansi’s sons sense the trouble and use their skills to save Anansi. They work together as a team and each use their special skill set.
That night, Anansi finds a mysterious and beautiful globe and decides he will give it to the son who saved him. Until him and his sons decide who that is, he gives the globe to Nyame, the god of everything, to hold on to.
Anansi and his sons cannot stop arguing over who the globe should go to. Nyame takes the globe and puts it into the sky to stay forever, creating the moon.
Check out these Anansi the Spider teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
3. I’m Trying to Love Spiders by Bethany Barton
The story, I’m Trying to Love Spiders, is about the author trying to learn how to love spiders. The author starts off as scared of spiders and wanting to squish any spider she sees. Throughout the story, the author learns interesting facts about spiders and slowly starts to like spiders. This story might change your students’ opinions of spiders, too!
Check out these I’m Trying to Love Spiders teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
4. The Spider and the Fly by Mary Howitt and Tony Diterlizzi
The story, The Spider and Fly, is about a cunning spider who is trying to trick Fly into his web. Spider tries many things to get Fly into his web. He says that he has a pretty parlor, that he cares for Fly, that he wouldn’t harm Fly, and serves her a meal. Through it all, Fly doesn’t let herself be tricked into his web.
However, Spider doesn’t give up and eventually starts giving Fly lots of compliments. He is finally about to trick her into his web and Fly learns an important lesson about not being vain.
Check out these The Spider and the Fly teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
5. The Very Busy Spider by Eric Carle
One morning, a spider gets blown across a field by the wind and lands on a fence post near a farm. She starts to build her web between two fence posts and works hard on staying focused.
Many animals on the farm come up to the spider and ask her if she wants to play with them. Each time, the spider keeps working on her web because she is very busy.
At the end of the story, the spider finishes building her web and catches a pesky fly in it. The spider falls asleep because she had a very busy day.
Check out these The Very Busy Spider teaching resources and activities to help you plan and deliver highly engaging read aloud lessons!
Grab the Free Reading Resources!
In closing, we hope you found this list of spider children’s books helpful! They are all part of our Starts With a Story collection. If you want to get more book ideas to read aloud to your elementary students, then grab this reading freebie. It includes read aloud books lists, reading logs, and reading challenges for 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade classroom teachers. It will have you covered for the entire school year, as well as the summer months! Grab this free elementary reading packet now!
