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Miss Spider
Miss Spider's ABC
Jumping junebugs, very vivid violets, entertaining earthworms, and other friends of Miss Spider gather to celebrate her birthday in this alphabet book.
32 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1998
2 people are currently reading
123 people want to read
About the author
David Kirk
186 books35 followersDavid Kirk is the creator of children's books that follow the character Miss Spider. Before writing books, he made colorful toys that were sold in hand-painted boxes. He was urged to write children's books when his toys caught the interest of a book packager. It wasn't difficult to figure out what he would use as characters in his stories: his daughter, Violet, had a liking for bugs.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_K...
Librarian Note:
There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews
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March 2, 2020Kirk,David. Miss Spider’s ABC. Callaway & Kirk Company, 2000.
In Miss Spider’s ABC by David Kirk, the story begins with the first letter of the alphabet and continues in sequence until the letter Z. Each page begins with a letter and a very short two word sentence or a phrase that begins on one page and then continues onto the next, such as “ J. Jumping June bugs ‘K’ kiss katydids.” Every page is supported with an illustration of an insect and the action that is described. The boldly colored and charming insects are illustrated in a way to appeal to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers without scaring them with more realistic drawings.
The target audience for this book is for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. It is a board book.
In Miss Spider’s ABC by David Kirk, the story begins with the first letter of the alphabet and continues in sequence until the letter Z. Each page begins with a letter and a very short two word sentence or a phrase that begins on one page and then continues onto the next, such as “ J. Jumping June bugs ‘K’ kiss katydids.” Every page is supported with an illustration of an insect and the action that is described. The boldly colored and charming insects are illustrated in a way to appeal to infants, toddlers, and preschoolers without scaring them with more realistic drawings.
The target audience for this book is for infants, toddlers and preschoolers. It is a board book.
February 26, 2018
Preschool to first grade.
This story introduces the alphabet along with insects that pertain to each letter. It starts off with A for ants then B for bumblebees and goes on through the entire alphabet. All the insects are shown out in nature and on objects such as a big cake, in irises, on twigs, and under roses. They are shown to be on their way to a big celebration. At the very end, all the bugs are shown to be hiding in the dark to surprise Miss Spider on her birthday. Strengths of this book are the way the illustrations include one bold letter of the alphabet per page and the alliteration to each insect shown for each letter. Each letter has a color that can easily be identified by children. The bright colors on each page can be used for children to identify as the story is being read. Another strength is the depiction of the bugs. The faces on the bugs are not lifelike but the bodies are a bit realistic to teach children the different types of bugs. Besides the bugs’ cartoon like faces, a weakness in this book is the way that that the insects are portrayed to be doing things that insects do not do. Some examples of this are the bees blowing balloons, a queen bee taking photographs, and termites carrying presents. I would recommend this book to children learning their alphabet or children learning how to write insect names. Also, the alliteration enforces the sounds of each letter. This title could be used in a lesson plan to introduce the letters and their sounds.
This story introduces the alphabet along with insects that pertain to each letter. It starts off with A for ants then B for bumblebees and goes on through the entire alphabet. All the insects are shown out in nature and on objects such as a big cake, in irises, on twigs, and under roses. They are shown to be on their way to a big celebration. At the very end, all the bugs are shown to be hiding in the dark to surprise Miss Spider on her birthday. Strengths of this book are the way the illustrations include one bold letter of the alphabet per page and the alliteration to each insect shown for each letter. Each letter has a color that can easily be identified by children. The bright colors on each page can be used for children to identify as the story is being read. Another strength is the depiction of the bugs. The faces on the bugs are not lifelike but the bodies are a bit realistic to teach children the different types of bugs. Besides the bugs’ cartoon like faces, a weakness in this book is the way that that the insects are portrayed to be doing things that insects do not do. Some examples of this are the bees blowing balloons, a queen bee taking photographs, and termites carrying presents. I would recommend this book to children learning their alphabet or children learning how to write insect names. Also, the alliteration enforces the sounds of each letter. This title could be used in a lesson plan to introduce the letters and their sounds.
February 19, 2019
Overall I fully enjoyed this book. This book goes over every letter in the alphabet, and its content was rich with examples that all had to do with nature. I feel like this is an excellent way to introduce either the alphabet, or science content to children. I feel like this book will be entertaining to children, and that they will actually be engaged.
December 1, 2025
I thought this was a really cute and educational way of teaching kids about the ABCs while also informing them of different types of bugs. I would use this as a read aloud and include it in my classroom library. I would recommend this be used in a PreK-2nd grade classroom.
May 10, 2018
Fantasy
May 21, 2019
poorly printed - missing two pages of an ABC book
June 17, 2019
5 stars for vocab, 4 for illustrations, but several letters just fall flat for me. Still a solid choice.
September 23, 2019
Great ABC book to teach about the alphabet! Also great for an introduction to bugs because it has so many different ones for each letter!So full of color and big illustrations of all the bugs!
February 19, 2020
I like how this book is more of an insect-themed, alphabet book. It has very colorful illustrations on every page. I recommend using this book to teach the alphabet.
April 6, 2020
Adorable, my son loved all of Miss Spider's friends
May 28, 2020
Loved the illustrations in this book very eye catching my little one loved it
September 16, 2021
I really enjoy the Miss Spider books.
February 22, 2022
It is a beautiful book and I wanted to give it 5 stars but the fancy curly font was too difficult for my 4 year old.
August 8, 2022
Beautiful pictures take us through the ABCs with insects. A fun group read aloud without a story line, like most ABC books.
January 10, 2023
What a fun book! A jolly wonderful trip through the ABC’s with spectacular art on each spread. Love this beautiful, gentle storyline.
November 30, 2024
Cute! Very nostalgic book
April 12, 2025
Very alliterative and fun to read. Rowan really liked pointing to the bugs’ eyes haha.
October 9, 2025
Straightforward book that introduces the ABC's also love how bright the pages are!
October 21, 2016
A really colorful and resourceful book! This would be great to use for kids just learning their ABC's. The pictures and the story really capture their attention, while also teaching them something!
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February 10, 2016Title: Miss Spider’s ABC
Author: David Kirk
Illustrator: David Kirk
Genre: Alphabet Book
Theme(s): Alphabet, Bugs.
Opening line/sentence: “Ants await”
Brief Book Summary:
As Miss Spider prepares for her birthday party, each letter of the alphabet is presented to the reader. For each letter, there is a different bug doing an action that begins with that corresponding letter of the alphabet.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
Miss Spider's ABC has just been published as a board book. What an extravaganza it is! A wildly colorful romp through the alphabet has all of the insects preparing a surprise party for Miss Spider. "Ants await./ Bumblebees blow balloons...Ladybugs laugh/ Moths mingle." The moths' wings look like flowing robes fit for royalty and the ladybugs seems to be jitterbugging. This is great fun that may inspire children to make their own ABC book of insects planning a class picnic or beach party. 2000, Scholastic, $16.95 and $8.95. Ages 3 to 6.
(PUBLISHER: Scholastic $16.95 and $8.95., PUBLISHED: 2000)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Pat Ferguson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 1))
David Kirk uses concise, alliterative text and vibrant illustrations in this alphabet board book to introduce the reader to a wide variety of creatures from ants to a zebra butterfly, who are preparing for Miss Spider's surprise birthday party. Young nature lovers will delight in the bright, colorful pictures and playful tone of the book. In addition to the obvious use of reinforcing the alphabet, this book also fits well in a life-science unit. Throughout this well-written book, phrases such as "fireflies fandango" and "moths mingle" provide excellent opportunities to build vocabulary and strengthen language development. The sturdy design combined with short text and bold illustrations make this book appealing as a read-aloud for toddlers. However, it is sophisticated enough to avoid appearing babyish to primary-age children. (1st board book ed.) Grades Preschool-2. 2000, Scholastic, Unpaged, $8.95. Ages 2 to 8.
(PUBLISHER: Scholastic $16.95 and $8.95., PUBLISHED: 2000)
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
Both professional reviews support this book for early readers. Both recommendations think that this book is a fun way to introduce the alphabet and a variety of insects to the reader at the same time. I agree, I think that the book is filled with colorful illustrations that will be sure to catch the readers’ eye. There are also uses an array of vocabulary words that can be used with slightly older readers as well.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The first obvious literary element that is being used is the use of every letter. As an alphabet book, it is crucial that the book introduces each letter. The book also pairs each letter to a corresponding bug/insect as well as a verb/noun that also begins with the same letter. I think that this is a great way to reinforce a student’s ability to recognize the letters of the alphabet but also introduce a handful of new vocabulary words as well.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
I think that this would be a great book for pre-school students or those who are just learning the alphabet. The book is not too wordy and the colorful pictures will keep children entertained. This would be a great book to incorporate into a science lesson as well. The teacher could have each student focus on one of the insects included in the book by researching and presenting an informal assessment on what they have learned.
Author: David Kirk
Illustrator: David Kirk
Genre: Alphabet Book
Theme(s): Alphabet, Bugs.
Opening line/sentence: “Ants await”
Brief Book Summary:
As Miss Spider prepares for her birthday party, each letter of the alphabet is presented to the reader. For each letter, there is a different bug doing an action that begins with that corresponding letter of the alphabet.
Professional Recommendation/Review #1:
Jan Lieberman (Children's Literature)
Miss Spider's ABC has just been published as a board book. What an extravaganza it is! A wildly colorful romp through the alphabet has all of the insects preparing a surprise party for Miss Spider. "Ants await./ Bumblebees blow balloons...Ladybugs laugh/ Moths mingle." The moths' wings look like flowing robes fit for royalty and the ladybugs seems to be jitterbugging. This is great fun that may inspire children to make their own ABC book of insects planning a class picnic or beach party. 2000, Scholastic, $16.95 and $8.95. Ages 3 to 6.
(PUBLISHER: Scholastic $16.95 and $8.95., PUBLISHED: 2000)
Professional Recommendation/Review #2:
Pat Ferguson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 1))
David Kirk uses concise, alliterative text and vibrant illustrations in this alphabet board book to introduce the reader to a wide variety of creatures from ants to a zebra butterfly, who are preparing for Miss Spider's surprise birthday party. Young nature lovers will delight in the bright, colorful pictures and playful tone of the book. In addition to the obvious use of reinforcing the alphabet, this book also fits well in a life-science unit. Throughout this well-written book, phrases such as "fireflies fandango" and "moths mingle" provide excellent opportunities to build vocabulary and strengthen language development. The sturdy design combined with short text and bold illustrations make this book appealing as a read-aloud for toddlers. However, it is sophisticated enough to avoid appearing babyish to primary-age children. (1st board book ed.) Grades Preschool-2. 2000, Scholastic, Unpaged, $8.95. Ages 2 to 8.
(PUBLISHER: Scholastic $16.95 and $8.95., PUBLISHED: 2000)
Response to Two Professional Reviews:
Both professional reviews support this book for early readers. Both recommendations think that this book is a fun way to introduce the alphabet and a variety of insects to the reader at the same time. I agree, I think that the book is filled with colorful illustrations that will be sure to catch the readers’ eye. There are also uses an array of vocabulary words that can be used with slightly older readers as well.
Evaluation of Literary Elements:
The first obvious literary element that is being used is the use of every letter. As an alphabet book, it is crucial that the book introduces each letter. The book also pairs each letter to a corresponding bug/insect as well as a verb/noun that also begins with the same letter. I think that this is a great way to reinforce a student’s ability to recognize the letters of the alphabet but also introduce a handful of new vocabulary words as well.
Consideration of Instructional Application:
I think that this would be a great book for pre-school students or those who are just learning the alphabet. The book is not too wordy and the colorful pictures will keep children entertained. This would be a great book to incorporate into a science lesson as well. The teacher could have each student focus on one of the insects included in the book by researching and presenting an informal assessment on what they have learned.
February 15, 2016
Title: Miss Spider's ABC
Author: David Kirk
Genre: Children's literachure, ABC
Theme(s): ABC, insects
Opening line/sentence: “A. Ants await.”
Brief Book Summary: The book goes through each letter of the alphabet. Corresponding each letter with a bug or flower, who awaits Miss. Spider’s arrival for a surprise birthday party.Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Cheryl Preston (Children’s Literature)
Miss Spider's "buggy" friends are preparing for her surprise birthday party, and each page features an uppercase letter with an accompanying alliteration: "ants await...fireflies fandango...yellow jackets yield...." Children will be fascinated by the magical paintings and enjoy the playful text. This is a great story time book that can be used as an introduction to beginning letter sounds. Another winner in the Miss Spider series of exquisitely illustrated picture books.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Pat Ferguson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 1)
David Kirk uses concise, alliterative text and vibrant illustrations in this alphabet board book to introduce the reader to a wide variety of creatures from ants to a zebra butterfly, who are preparing for Miss Spider's surprise birthday party. Young nature lovers will delight in the bright, colorful pictures and playful tone of the book. In addition to the obvious use of reinforcing the alphabet, this book also fits well in a life-science unit. Throughout this well-written book, phrases such as "fireflies fandango" and "moths mingle" provide excellent opportunities to build vocabulary and strengthen language development. The sturdy design combined with short text and bold illustrations make this book appealing as a read-aloud for toddlers. However, it is sophisticated enough to avoid appearing babyish to primary-age children.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviews highlight the inviting illustrations to beginning readers. Both reviews also stress Miss. Spider’s ABC’s as a great introduction to those learning letter recognition and sounds, which I believe as well. I enjoyed how Ferguson’s review went on to connect the book to a life science lesson due to the books incorporation of insects, I think this is a great connection.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book been designed for young readers to become familiar with letter recognitions and sounds. The illustrations will keep readers interested by recognizing and learner new insects. The plot of the story ensures engagement – “what are the insects getting ready for? Maybe a party, but for who?”
Consideration of Instructional Application: Not only does this book act as an introduction for letters for pre-school/kindergarten, but can also be used for an introduction to life science. Learners can draw an insect they commonly see outside. Discussions about where they live and what they eat can become apart of the lesson as well. The learners can develop writing skills by writing the first letter of the insect the chose to draw, which can be posted in the classroom.
Author: David Kirk
Genre: Children's literachure, ABC
Theme(s): ABC, insects
Opening line/sentence: “A. Ants await.”
Brief Book Summary: The book goes through each letter of the alphabet. Corresponding each letter with a bug or flower, who awaits Miss. Spider’s arrival for a surprise birthday party.Professional Recommendation/Review #1: Cheryl Preston (Children’s Literature)
Miss Spider's "buggy" friends are preparing for her surprise birthday party, and each page features an uppercase letter with an accompanying alliteration: "ants await...fireflies fandango...yellow jackets yield...." Children will be fascinated by the magical paintings and enjoy the playful text. This is a great story time book that can be used as an introduction to beginning letter sounds. Another winner in the Miss Spider series of exquisitely illustrated picture books.
Professional Recommendation/Review #2: Pat Ferguson (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews (Vol. 13, No. 1)
David Kirk uses concise, alliterative text and vibrant illustrations in this alphabet board book to introduce the reader to a wide variety of creatures from ants to a zebra butterfly, who are preparing for Miss Spider's surprise birthday party. Young nature lovers will delight in the bright, colorful pictures and playful tone of the book. In addition to the obvious use of reinforcing the alphabet, this book also fits well in a life-science unit. Throughout this well-written book, phrases such as "fireflies fandango" and "moths mingle" provide excellent opportunities to build vocabulary and strengthen language development. The sturdy design combined with short text and bold illustrations make this book appealing as a read-aloud for toddlers. However, it is sophisticated enough to avoid appearing babyish to primary-age children.
Response to Two Professional Reviews: Both reviews highlight the inviting illustrations to beginning readers. Both reviews also stress Miss. Spider’s ABC’s as a great introduction to those learning letter recognition and sounds, which I believe as well. I enjoyed how Ferguson’s review went on to connect the book to a life science lesson due to the books incorporation of insects, I think this is a great connection.
Evaluation of Literary Elements: This book been designed for young readers to become familiar with letter recognitions and sounds. The illustrations will keep readers interested by recognizing and learner new insects. The plot of the story ensures engagement – “what are the insects getting ready for? Maybe a party, but for who?”
Consideration of Instructional Application: Not only does this book act as an introduction for letters for pre-school/kindergarten, but can also be used for an introduction to life science. Learners can draw an insect they commonly see outside. Discussions about where they live and what they eat can become apart of the lesson as well. The learners can develop writing skills by writing the first letter of the insect the chose to draw, which can be posted in the classroom.
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September 7, 2012This is a beautifully illustrated children's alphabet book. There are many reasons why I think this is a great book for children. First of all the characters in this book are also in a cartoon. When kids see characters from their favorite cartoons they tend to get excited, so this is a wonderful way to get children excited about reading. The bright colors will draw kids to pick this book up. Maybe next time the child gets a chance to watch T.V. they will just stop and think that they might rather read a book. This alphabet book actually has a story to it most alphabet books do not have an actual plot. Miss Spider's friends are planning a surprise party for her. Every page introduces another one of Miss spider's friends in Alphabetical order starting from an ant and ending in a zebra butterfly. They are antsy to surprise her.
December 7, 2015
Miss spiders ABC is a story written by David Kirk. For each letter of the alphabelt she has a different insect. Which is a lot of insects that I didn’t even know about. This book would be not good but okay for helping children out with the alphabet because, a lot of the insect names are kind of over the top and wouldn’t really work with someone just learning the alphabet, but it also wouldn’t work with someone who only knows the basics of reading. If you want kids to get a better understanding of insects, then this would be a great book to read. The illustrations for this book were colorful and very fun to look at, I mean if you are going to have a birthday party there should be quite a few colors. Also if you wanted to use this in teaching you could have a lesson about insects and going over the differences or similarities that insects have.
November 30, 2016
Awards: n/a
Grade: K-1
Summary: David Kirk does it again with another Miss. Spider adventure. This story is about her friend's preparing for a birthday party for Miss. Spider. The author goes reveals each of Miss. Spider's friends through all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Everyone is excited and waiting for the arrival of Miss. Spider these beautiful illustrations that children would sure love.
Review: I am all about visual aides to help reinforce what you are trying to say and these illustrations are bright and fun that any student would be able to remember.
In Class Use: (1) Reinforcing Alphabet Recognition- I would use this a way to show the alphabet in a different format. To help students recognize a letter I would say "Remember jumping june bugs from Miss. Spider birthday party?, What letter does june bug start with?".
Grade: K-1
Summary: David Kirk does it again with another Miss. Spider adventure. This story is about her friend's preparing for a birthday party for Miss. Spider. The author goes reveals each of Miss. Spider's friends through all twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Everyone is excited and waiting for the arrival of Miss. Spider these beautiful illustrations that children would sure love.
Review: I am all about visual aides to help reinforce what you are trying to say and these illustrations are bright and fun that any student would be able to remember.
In Class Use: (1) Reinforcing Alphabet Recognition- I would use this a way to show the alphabet in a different format. To help students recognize a letter I would say "Remember jumping june bugs from Miss. Spider birthday party?, What letter does june bug start with?".
March 16, 2015
This was a very interesting book for children. To start off, the pictures on every page were awesome and vibrantly filled with color. The art work, I think, was the saving grace of this book. Some of the words they used for the insects in the book, were to me, a little advanced for a child's understanding. That would have to be the only criticism that I have for the book. Other than that, this books goes off a very good imagination for a child, and they are able to enjoy everything they see and read in this book. I would definitely read this one to kids and share it, and sure they may not know what everything means, but that doesn't mean they would enjoy the book at all. I would recommend this one to any kid.
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October 2, 2009This book is about insects and flowers anxiously waiting for the arrival of Miss Spider for her surprise birthday party. Every page is filled with colorful pictures that are named with an alphabet letter. I cannot express how amazing the pictures in this book are. They are so vivid and expressive and I have never seen colors as bold as these. I think the illustrator did a great job. This book works out well for preschoolers because they’ll be learning their alphabet in school and this goes along with that. It would also work out well for a unit over insects and flowers I think. Great book!
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September 10, 2014Miss Spiders ABC was extremely helpful with the alphabet but also learning more about insects. Kids can keep listening and learn about bug life with each letter they can discover a beautiful butterfly of praying mantas that is titled with it. The beautiful images that are drawn to describe the insects and emphasize the beginning of the letters are very helpful and simple to understand. The book is a story and can be fun with your imagination of all the bugs that are beautiful around you and next time you see a ladybug you might think of it laughing. Children will love this book and also adults because it is very educational in more than one way
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October 24, 2015This is another alphabet book that would be good for younger elementary school kids. It would help them learn their ABC’s and associate words that start with the letters of the alphabet. This book is about Miss. Spider and her other insect friends. Each letter has a sentence and within the sentence each word starts with the letter that is being talked about.
Activity: I would use this book to start talking about insects to students. Once my students have a grasp on the alphabet then I will start to read this book each day. We will discuss the letter and the insect and then I will get the students to write me a story about the insect we learned about that day.
Activity: I would use this book to start talking about insects to students. Once my students have a grasp on the alphabet then I will start to read this book each day. We will discuss the letter and the insect and then I will get the students to write me a story about the insect we learned about that day.
October 9, 2015
This book was a good ABC book especially if your class has enjoyed hearing the other Miss Spider books. I thought it was one of the better ABC books I have read because it actually tells a story with the creatures that it introduces with each letter. At the end of the story it tells that each of the insects are throwing Miss Spider a surprise birthday party. I would read this to my class that is learning letters and have them pick a letter of the alphabet and color and spell the insect represented in the book by that letter.
December 3, 2015
This book was a good ABC book especially if your class has enjoyed hearing the other Miss Spider books. I thought it was one of the better ABC books I have read because it actually tells a story with the creatures that it introduces with each letter. At the end of the story it tells that each of the insects are throwing Miss Spider a surprise birthday party. I would read this to my class that is learning letters and have them pick a letter of the alphabet and color and spell the insect represented in the book by that letter.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 98 reviews