Spider School

This is a challenging picture book - the Year One and Year Two children who reviewed it for me had diametrically opposing opinions. Most enjoyed it - they loved the humour and gloried in the details of Kate's first day at a nightmare school where books are not allowed and spiders and snails are served up for dinner! The other children were concerned about children changing schools in real life. This book might make them more nervous rather than make them laugh at their fears. What if the book got into the hands of 'little ones just about to start school', they might be 'really put off'! As the story unfolds it becomes clear that Kate is having a nightmare but this is not overtly stated and a surprisingly high percentage of the children did not grasp this important fact. The book provided a very valuable vehicle for discussion allowing children to consider what they thought and knew about school, about the school environment, about school dinners, about how teachers spoke to them, about what they took for granted and about why they attend school at all! Handled sensitively Spider School delivers a great deal but there are some risks attached!