She wanted to sing her new song. My soon-to-be-2 granddaughter stood in our living room twisting her toddler fingers into climby-spider shapes. Adorable.

So I looked for a colorful board book about the critter. Found one, glanced through it quickly, liked the creative illustrations, and brought it home.  As it happened, Natalia was spending the night. I showed her the book, anticipating a happy smile.

A slight frown. A wary look. “Do you want me to read it to you?” I asked before bedtime. “No.”

Later, she awakened out of a sound sleep sobbing, “No itsy bitsy spider!”

As you can imagine, the book quickly disappeared from her library, consigned to a spot high on top of the bookshelf. I decided, in a fit of pique, to write a snarky post about spiders in general, and this one in particular. It does seem like an odd thing to tell a child. “This spider, sweetheart, is insane. He keeps doing the same thing over and over again while expecting a different result.” Plus, I was pathologically afraid of spiders as a child. And I’m not exactly wild about them as an adult.

I decided to do some quick research on arachnids. Oh my. The illustrations are graphic, including closeups of spider faces! (Is that really necessary?) They claim that, while there are 30,000 known kinds, very few can actually harm people. And spiders are “helpful to people because they eat harmful insects.” Well, don’t I feel better.

I gave up on the creepy pictures and retrieved Natalia’s reject. The first 2 pages are the lines you and I know: the waterspout, the rain, the sun. But, turn the page, and surprise! We have a reason for Itsy’s efforts: he has spun his web high on the rooftop for a better view of the landscape and is simply trying to get home. He dons goggles in a second attempt. He shields himself with an umbrella, bounces on a trampoline, detours across a clothesline. He’s blown into a tree with angry birds.

Is he discouraged? NO! He’s clever! He’s resourceful! He’s tenacious! And he has a great attitude.

The author, Kate Toms, is a Christian writer living in England and has a wonderful line of children’s books. Here is the moral she chooses for this story: Don’t wear a frown – even when the rain comes down! I’m going to add Winston Churchill’s famous line, which appears on a plaque in my office: Never, never, ever give up! 

Natalia and I had another go at Itsy when she was a little older – with a much better response. And it turns out to be one of those children’s books that gets handed down to the next little, and the next. May I suggest that this is a good time to be emphasizing a sturdy faith, patience, and joyful resilience?

Nothing itsy-bitsy about that.

What is one children’s book you would highly recommend to other parents right now? Please share in Leave a Reply below. Aren’t yet a subscriber? I’d love to have you in my Legacy tribe!