Walter’s Wonderful Web: a book about shapes

Here is a lively book about the concept of ‘shape’ whic is set within an engaging story. We know from the success of ‘WOW! Said The Owl’ that this author illustrator understands how to create animal characters with a strong appeal for young children.  In this book we meet Walter who had a dilemma – he lacked web-spinning skills and this was rather serious for a spider!  His webs were ‘wibbly-wobbly’ and inclined to blow away in the wind in contrast to his friends’ perfect creations.  Walter experimented by making webs in triangular, square and diamond shapes but found that these, and even his ‘almost perfect’ round one, were easily blown away in the wind.  It is only when he worked through the night and combined all the shapes he had been making that he achieved a wonderful web that was not only perfect but which ‘shone in the moonlight’. With a conversational written text and sharply drawn, intensely coloured illustrations this is a book likely to become a favourite with many young children. Not only does it teach about shapes, it also shows that you have to persevere to solve problems in life.