Disclosure: I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Have you ever worked hard on something and then had it destroyed by someone else? Perhaps you have watched a young child build a tower and then have another child knock it down. The frustration and anger the child feels. Today we are sharing a new picture book about a spider who works hard on creating beautiful webs only to feel that frustration when it is destroyed. The book is I Worked Hard on That! by Robyn Wall and illustrated by A.N. Kang. It is recommended for ages 4 to 8. I am also including a spider web craft and activity round-up to go with the book.

From the Publisher:

A spider sets out to make the most perfect, awe-inspiring web only to have her artistic efforts destroyed again and again in this delightful picture book about the creative process and perseverance.

As a spider, Kiara has always made webs to catch food, but one day, she discovers a web so beautiful that she’s inspired to spin a masterpiece of her own.

So, Kiara starts creating, but even though she works hard on her webs, they are carelessly destroyed by others. How frustrating!

It’s not until Kiara meets Orb, a spider who eats every web he weaves, that she gains a fresh perspective: the artistic process isn’t about the destination but the journey and the friends you make along the way.

From Me:

Kiara sees a beautiful web and wants to create her own. After a few failures she succeeds to make one it gets destroyed by another animal going through it. She feels awful. Then she meets Orb. He invites her to make a beautiful web with him. When they finish it is amazing. All the creatures agree and then Orb gets hungry and eats the web. Kiara is so upset she storms off. Then she ruins a squirrel's masterpiece as she is storming off. Paws the squirrel, tells her how it is fun to create and learn something for the next piece. Then Paws joins Kiara and Orb to create their next masterpiece. Kiara realizes it is fun to create and when something gets ruined, they get to create again and again together.

This book is so sweet and fun. It has the desire to create as well as the emotions of frustration and anger when your creation is destroyed. It also has the apologetic emotions when you destroy someone else's creation. This book is wonderful for discussing emotions. It is a wonderful book for encouraging creativity as well as compassion. I can see it as a story time book when someone's building block tower gets knocked over or just to remind each other that creating is fun and it is okay for things to get ruined. We get to start over with the lessons we learned the previous time. And of course that creating is even better with friends. It is also a great book to be read at home! Plus, it is a fun book for introducing spider units! It has so many themes and uses. I hope you will check it out!

Spider Web Craft & Activity Round-Up

Creating your own spider web is the perfect companion to go with this book. Check out these fun crafts and activities that are spider web (and a few spider) themed.