The Spider and the Fly by Tony DiTerlizzi (Based on poem by Mary Howitt)
This is such an amazing book. It is, admittedly, a picture book. Not something that a Young Adult’s would read, but I have to say this is a very good book. The story is very cute and there are also some really good illustrations as you can see.
I was curious how the pictures were drawn or created because they are so good, so I looked in the back of the book. It said, “The illustrations that appear in this book were rendered using Lamp Black and Titanium White Holbein Acryla Gouache and Berol Prismacolo Pencil on Strathmore 5-Ply, Plate Bristol board and reproduced in silver and black duotone. The “ghosts” were created in graphite and then added as a transparent layer using Adobe Photoshop.” To sum it all up into a few simple words, a lot of it was drawn by hand, but some of it was “enhanced” with Adobe Photoshop. When I say “enhanced” I mean the edges were rounded and the pictures were softened and there was a glow added. But overall this book was hand drawn. A very impressive work of art, if you would call it that. This story was based around the poem and became its own little masterpiece.
This book is not for younger children because they might find the spider scary or the story a little frightening. I have always loved it because I like the pictures. They are really good and they are just so much fun to look at. There are little things hidden all over the place. Not a treasure hunt, but the ghosts and the butterfly are on almost every page. I would definitely check this book out because it is really cute and a great Halloween read.
