Review of Spiker the Jumping Spider Learns about Joy

[Damian Keyes]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Spiker the Jumping Spider Learns about Joy" by J. M. Ashmore.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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There’s nothing better than an entertaining children’s book that teaches the youth through animation. Spiker the Jumping Spider Learns About Joy: Joy Is a Fruit of the Spirit by J.M. Ashmore is a feel-good story about Spiker the Jumping Spider and his friend, Crispin the Cricket, as they learn what joy means and how they display joy through horrible situations.

The author takes her readers on a journey, with Spiker and Crispin as the leads. Since spiders and crickets are two different insects, J.M. Ashmore makes a clear distinction in this book by showcasing both characters' similar and differing abilities. For example, Spiker can make these cool strings of silk and Crispin can rub his wing parts together to make this chirping noise. These special abilities will become useful later on in the book when they need it most—just like joy.

I have read many children’s books, but this one differs from anyone I’ve ever read. At the end of the story, the author added a Story Questions and Answers section where parents can ask their children these questions and see if it matches what they remembered from the story. That section was my favorite part of the book because it challenges children to recall what they’ve read; this helps with their memorization and how they retain information.

As I stated earlier, children’s books should not only entertain kids but teach them something they’ve never learned before. After the Story Q&A section, the author included these interesting facts about jumping spiders and crickets, some of which are displayed in the story. For example, I did not know that a cricket bite feels like a bee sting.

Even though I found one grammar error, it did not distract me from my enjoyment of this professionally-edited children’s tale. I thoroughly enjoyed my reading experience and the information I took from it. There are two paragraphs or one big paragraph on every page, so I believe kids ages 6 to 8 are best suited for this book. I’m going to give this book a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars.

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Spiker the Jumping Spider Learns about Joy
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