Charlesbridge and the Struggle for Survival

This is not your mother's Charlotte's Web.

This is real and it's creeping me out and fascinating me at the same time. There is a rather giant--and probably radioactive--spider right outside my window. I'm finding it hard to concentrate on publicizing and promoting as I struggle with the urge to run for my life.

All the same, as this really big spider builds a web outside my window, I fantasize about messages like "Awesome Pig," "Nice Shoes," and "You Need a Haircut" when I come to work every day.


So as to keep my blogging in the world of children's literature, I need to share one of Charlesbridge's best books--Up, Up, and Away by Ginger Wadsworth and illustrated by Patricia J. Wynne.

Up, Up, and Away was published in 2009 and is the story of how one spider finds herself snug as a bug inside her egg sac until spring. Then, she and her hundreds of siblings hatch and very soon go off to find their way in the world. They grow up so fast. This spider is a garden spider, I don't know what kind of spider is dangling two feet from my face right now, but I hope the glass holds. In Up, Up, and Away, Ginger says garden spiders live for about a year. I'm sure I'll miss her when she's gone. I hope I get to see hundreds of babies born and fly away.

Up, Up, and Away is a CBC/NSTA Outstanding Science Trade Book and a CCBC Choices book.

Can't get enough of spiders? Watch this fun video: