Dream Weaver

Steve Pitt is a Toronto-based freelance writer and an award-winning journalist. He has written many young adult and children's books, including Day of the Flying Fox: The True Story of World War II Pilot Charley Fox.

“Nestled in the soft earth beside the path, you see a little yellow
spider. If you are quiet and listen, maybe you can hear its feet on the
sparkling web. Seeing you, Yellow Spider seems to pause, her legs like
threads. ‘Don’t be afraid, little spider.’ You smile. Yellow
Spider rests and floats, silently.”

If London’s soft-pedalled spider verse does not melt your
anti-arachnid heart, Baviera’s bright and beautiful crayon-pencil
illustrations will. The narrative explores the amazing world of a yellow
orb weaver spider. Through the eyes of a young boy, the reader is
brought face to face with the tiny carnivore as it weaves its delicate
web across a forest path. Raindrops loom large as swimming pools and a
passing snail rattles the web like a rumbling trolley, but the only real
danger to the spider comes from a human who crashes through the web and
moves on. The web left in ruins, the spider patiently gathers up the
wreckage and begins again.

This lovely book, which informs as well as charms, will help dispel the
myths many young people (and perhaps a few adults) have about spiders.
For spider aficionados, there is a list of arachnid facts on the last
page. Highly recommended.