SPIDER SPIDER

As Peter watches a small spider crawl across the floor, he declares he will become one. ``And what will you do?'' his mother asks. As he limns his plans, Peter's mother comments, sweeping her little boy/spider outdoors or washing it down the drain, but he always crawls free for another adventure; then Mother declares that she'll become a spider, too. Banks presents a duel of imaginations that could go on interminably were it not for the loving mother's gentle ending of it. Hallensleben's bright, cat-inclusive illustrations show readers the boy-as-spider in mischievous activities like pilfering his mother's lunch to napping on her book, which is open to a witty, bright party scene where the spider blends in well with the animal guests. Some of the mother's anti-spider tactics may seem threatening, as well as the view from the child/spider's perspective in many of the pictures, but the text's even tenor and the pictures' tender expressions—to say nothing of the cat's equanimity—assures readers know it's all a game. (Picture book. 3-5)