Miss Spider's Tea Party

“Miss Spider's Tea Party” was the first book selection in Week 1 for Memoria Press First Grade's Enrichment Literature list. First my budding reader (AppleBlossom is five years and 11 days old) flipped through and looked at the pictures and asked why Miss Spider looked sad. We discussed how reading the words would let us know why. So we read, and we counted, we rhymed, and we discussed. I do enjoy the vibrant illustrations, and I loved reading about how David Kirk went from toy store entrepreneur/toy box illustrator to creating a picture book - what a change in luck!

Miss Spider wants to have a tea party, but due to the fact that spiders normally eat insects, all the surrounding insects are scared of her. Only by fate and her kind generosity does a wet moth spread the word of cheer, that there is nothing to fear. This is a good introduction to the different between arachnids and insects and opened up for a further unit nature study on six-legged insect creatures in further reading.

My first experience with David Kirk and Miss Spider was actually a board book for counting, and that was a worthy read too. It is my understanding that Miss Spider's Tea Party is currently out of print. However, used copies might be found and maybe it will come back to a reprint in the future.

In the rest of the week we have planned a snack craft (oreos, pretzel sticks and m&ms - thank you pinterest) as well as further reads. I also found some lyrics and other printable (freebie) worksheets on the Itsy Bitsy Spider that we're using as well. We also plan to research the tea plant (this type of nature study research is a first for me!) as well as the history of tea parties. I found a great informational link from Teavana.com.

Other reads:
Made by God: Spiders, Snakes, Bees, and Bats
Made by God: Big Bugs, Little Bugs
Cat in the Hat Learning Library: Big Bugs, Little Bugs?
Let's Read and Find Out Science: Bugs are Insects
Insect Detective
Creep and Flutter