Mary Howitt's The Spider and The Fly

Author: Mary Howitt

Illustrator: Tony DiTerlizzi

Peach’s Picks Rating:

 

Year of publication: 2002

City of publication: New York

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers

ISBN: 0-689-85289-4

Author website: No personal website available. Information about the author may be obtained from Oxford Reference Online Premium, an online subscription database

Illustrator website: http://diterlizzi.com/home/books/

Media used for illustrations: "Lamp Black and Titanium White Holbein Acryla Gouache and Berol Primsmacolor Pencil on Strathmore 5-Ply, Plate Bristol board and reproduced in silver and black duotone. Ghosts were created using “graphite and then added as a transparent layer using Adobe Photoshop"(illustrator’s note).

Annotation: This familiar poem about a crafty spider preying on an innocence fly is given a fresh interpretation through Tony DiTerlizzi’s imaginative black-and-white illustrations echoing a 1920s era silent film.

Personal reaction to the book: This book is great fun to read aloud and to pour over the pictures. We all know the story of the wily spider that successfully lures the fly to his web, but here the poem comes to life through illustrations of a fly who is an innocent, naïve flapper wooed by a smarmy, nattily dressed, “gentleman” spider.  The story can be interpreted as a cautionary tale and indeed, at the end of the book, the spider has written a letter warning readers not to become trapped “in some schemer’s web” (page 29). The black-and-white drawings in this book steal the show. The expressions and body language of the characters lend to the melodramatic mood. The bug ghosts foreshadow what will become of the flapper. The spider is shown gloating as he knows she will succumb to his ways. The fly’s large eyes convey expression as do the spider’s heavily lidded, creepy eyes. The book gives the impression of a 1920s silent film. The illustrations can be seen by a large group, but are best appreciated when viewing them individually. The reader is able to discover details, for example; on pages 7-8 the bed is fashioned from a soap box with the foot of the bed made from a comb, the decorative picture is a postage stamp, and the wallpaper border is end-to-end bugs. Those who enjoy Joan Steiner’s Look-Alike books will enjoy examining the backgrounds found in this book. The book can easily be read aloud to a large group and lends itself to adding the characters’ voices. For those who like humorous and sinister picturebooks, pair this with The Nightmare Before Christmas by Tim Burton. Back matter includes biographical information about Mary Howitt, author, and Tony DiTerlizzi, illustrator.

Further discussion of artwork:

In her book Picture This: How Pictures Work author/illustrator Molly Bang says “Wide space can create tension between the divided objects” (page 89). Tony DiTerlizzi uses this technique in an illustration he created for The Spider and the Fly. Examine the full page spread showing the spider and the fly at dinner. The small fly is seated to the far left and the large spider leans toward her from the far right. Bang further explains tension created by distance saying, “When the attacker and the victim are spaced far apart, I, as the victim, have more time to be scared. There are at least two seconds now before I’ll be cornered in this picture, but there is more possibility of escape with the larger amount of space-time between victim and attacker” (page 89). The reader feels the tension in the illustration of the spider and the fly at dinner. The reader wants to warn the fly to flee. Later in the book, Bang uses space to imply time. The fly has returned to the spider. He is kissing her hand. Not only are they close, but they are touching and she is smiling coyly at the spider. Now the reader feels that there is no time left for the fly to escape. Molly Bang describes a picture created in this style saying “[the] picture feels frightening to me, but part of me also wonders whether these two figures aren’t just having a jolly old chat” (page 88).

DiTerlizzi set his rendition of Mary Howitt’s poem in a gothic-like mansion reminiscent of a silent horror movie starring a smarmy spider that looks like Vincent Price. The spider is bent on capturing the hapless, beautiful, and naïve fly that looks like Louise Brooks. To further capture the feeling of a silent movie, DiTerlizzi created artwork using black and white illustrations with silvery accents making the reader feel as they are watching a silent film flickering across the screen. In DiTerlizzi’s endnote he mentions that his artwork is influenced by the artwork of Edward Gorey, Charles Addams, and Arthur Rackham. The influence of Charles Addams is noticeable through DiTerlizzi’s use of black humor and macabre characters. While these illustrations can be viewed by a large group, they are ideally suited for individual readers who enjoy looking at artwork for detail.

Reference

Bang, M. (2000). Picture this: How picture work. New York: SeaStar Books.

  
General curricular connections:

• Poetry
• Creative writing
• Art
• Reading for pleasure

Recommended grade levels:

School Library Journal recommends this book for use with grades 1-6

Booklist recommends this book for use with grades 2-5

Peach’s Picks recommends this book for use with grades 3 and up

Awards/Recognitions:

Kirkus Review starred review

Publishers Weekly starred review

School Library Journal starred review

Caldecott Honor Award, 2003

ALA Notable Children’s Books, All ages, 2003

Note: This entry meets the assignment criteria to review books that contain single book-length poems.

Rhyme: Poetic rhyme scheme of AA, BB, CC using limbic pentameter style of poetry construction

Simile: Page 19; “Your eyes are like the diamond bright, but mine are dull as lead!”

Allusion: Page 10: The large clock in the background showing 11:30 p.m. indicates that time is running out for the fly. This alludes to the significance of the clock string midnight in the classic fairytale, Cinderella.

Allusion: The fly is depicted as a flapper, alluding to a frivolous young woman from the 1920s jazz age

Book cover picture retrieved from http://books.simonandschuster.com/Spider-and-the-Fly/Mary-Howitt/9780689852893