"Spinderella" by Julia Donaldson and Sebastien Braun (Egmont Publishing)

I had to check my typing in the header of this blog post to make sure I hadn't typed in the wrong illustrator...
I've become so used to following "Julia Donaldson" with "Axel Scheffler" that I had to do a double take, here's a new book from Julia with another talented illustrator - this time Sebastien Braun brings Julia's characters to life in "Spinderella".

Spinderella is a curious and inquisitive little spider who lives with her family in a school. The story opens with the family sitting around the dinner table (actually, hiding up in the rafters atop a light fitting). While they watch the pupils eating their lunch below, the family enjoys a hearty meal of flies.

"How many flies do I have?" asks Spinderella. No one knows, because no one in the family knows how to count. "Phooey to numbers!" say her mean brothers but Spinderella's thirst for knowledge is unbounded, and after a slip of the web, she finds herself presented with an opportunity to finally learn how to count.

Numbers are exciting, counting is fun and Spinderella can't wait to share her new found knowledge with her family - and balance out the sides in their football matches!

This is a thoroughly brilliant and entertaining book to encourage youngsters to begin their own number journeys. Read the book aloud, and count everything from spiders to children, from flies to peas and you'll have loads of fun.

"Spinderella" by Julia Donaldson and Sebastien Braun is out on the 6th October from Egmont Publishing.