A spider named Itsy

This jubilant rhyming picture book expands the famous nursery rhyme into a celebration of resilience and teamwork. Itsy Bitsy sports a derby hat, shoes with spats, and a handy umbrella as he has his tea for one in his web strung over a garden watering can. A branch breaks off the neighboring tree, sending Itsy Bitsy and a variety of other bugs on foot and in tiny, fanciful vehicles, carrying suitcases and musical instruments, in search of new digs on the nearby waterspout. This isn't just Itsy Bitsy's adventure: again and again he spins out his purple silk to help the others, despite the rain washing them all out. The illustrations, done in Light's always wonderful ink and watercolor, are framed like a microscope pointed at the comic escape route. By tale's end, Itsy Bitsy has helped rescue the endangered, and he hosts a tea party for his new friends. The final dedication is "for those who have been 'washed out' and had the courage to climb up again." Fun and inspiring.

Decked out in spats, a jaunty bowler hat, and a bright green umbrella, Itsy Bitsy is an indubitably dapper but moodily solitary arachnid. When a falling branch takes out the spider's web, Itsy sets its sights on a more protected location under the gutter of a nearby house, reached by a wobbly, Seussian-looking waterspout. A rhinoceros beetle, a ladybug and baby, and an elegantly antennae'd cricket musician are also on their way up, and after Itsy graciously provides them roadside assistance, the spider becomes their traveling companion as a storm looms overhead. Boldly outlined rain torrents inevitably wash everyone back down to the ground, but the group is only momentarily deterred: "Sun comes out,// dries the rain// Time to climb the spout again." What's more, the bugs return Itsy's kindness by celebrating a "new web home,/ newfound friends." Presented alongside minimal, rhythmic text, pen and ink and watercolor art by Light (Concrete: From the Ground Up) is a comically elegant, unalloyed treat. The source-material nursery rhyme concludes. Ages 3--5. Agency: Wernick & Pratt. (Sept.)

This riff on the classic children's song begins with a prequel, as "Itsy Bitsy sits at home, / drinking tea, / all alone" in a web constructed on the spout and handle of a watering can. When that cozy home is ruined by a branch falling off of a tree and ripping the web to pieces, Itsy quickly turns to a promising-looking waterspout. Light's detailed watercolor and pen-and-ink pictures show dapper Itsy with four legs for arms and four more with shoes, and he gives lots of opportunities for predicting the next thing to happen through the pictures. Other tiny insect creatures scramble to pack up their homes as the wind begins to blow with a beetle, a ladybug and her babies, and others working together with Itsy to all climb that waterspout, helping one another along the way. As the song goes, the rain dooms their expedition to failure, but: "What a mess! / No time to rest!" Itsy and his new friends begin again in this story of resilience, determination, and friendship. Children will surely sing along with Itsy and his friends on the final page, which shows the original words surrounded by waves of musical notes. Susan Dove LempkeSeptember/October 2023 p.58 (c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Itsy Bitsy leads a solitary and comfortable, if not altogether content, existence in a web on a watering can…until disaster strikes. Alas, a small tree branch falls on the web, and Itsy goes tumbling. Looking for another home, the spider spies the area between a waterspout and roof and begins to move there. Then the wind starts blowing, and then the rain comes, and then, well, as the rhyme goes, Itsy gets washed out only to try again. What makes this tale particularly appealing is the whimsical artwork, which amplifies the spare narrative with numerous other storylines: Small anthropomorphized bugs (of which Itsy is one) are picnicking, playing music, and socializing (which cleverly sets up the denouement) when the unsettling weather comes along. The bugs begin to help each other get to safety, and when all get washed out, they all try again--together. This message of picking oneself up after disappointment is delivered playfully, making it appropriately effective for young readers, and the final double-page spread illustration lightly delivers the affirmative ending message: Having friends and helping each other are happier ways to live. The book is well designed, with a variety of visual treatments. Bordered images indicate a sense of containment, while spot art emphasizes forward movement. Double-page spreads highlight expansion and activity. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A heartwarming take on the familiar nursery rhyme. (Picture book. 3-5) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.