Spinderella: The brilliantly funny illustrated children’s Halloween 2026 picture book perfect for children aged 3 to 6

First I’ll say that we are HUGE Julia Donaldson fans and we have many books of hers. It is a cute story, but it is definitely for school age kids and not for younger kids. It feels like a book you would hear your teacher read at school and just stays there. The biggest thing for me is that it DOESN’T RHYME!!! All the books I have of hers rhymes and my kids absolutely love them. This one disappointed all of us and the story didn’t feel at all like a Julia Donaldson book. I read it once and haven’t since. Sucks, because we were so excited about getting it.

We love Julia Donaldson. I am always recommending her books to other parents. They are fun to read. There is always sure to be a talented illustrator involved as well.

I read this so often to my granddaughter. She loves it and always counts the spiders, their legs, and the children on the teams.

This review will not show the verified purchase badge as I am a UK Amazon customer and purchased this on the UK Amazon website (where it does show the badge). I do buy some toys and books over here on .com and so decided to post this review over here too. I am not a fan of the S word (Spiders - it even creeps me out typing the name!) but I do love Julia Donaldson books and more importantly my children love them and I don't think we have had a 'dud' yet. I was a little cautious about buying this book because obviously by the picture on the front and the name Spinderella it's about my not so loved word beginning with S but the illustrator has actually almost made them look quite cute (I still make a point of not looking at some of their little fangs though and especially the Hairy Godmother) and the storyline and book itself is wonderful. I love that the book teaches the importance of counting and numbers and that there is also an opportunity for your little one to count up to 20 by counting the 20 children on the football team and then divide that into two to make 10 each. My son is currently struggling a little with his counting and so this book has been wonderful to reinforce the numbers up to 20 and more importantly both of my children love the book. We have the paperback version which is a good sized book measuring 24.5cm by 27.5cm. The book is not written in the usual rhyming style which most books like this tend to be which is nice for a change. The story tells of a little S called Spinderella who dreams of learning about numbers and how to count but her Mum and siblings are not interested and think that counting and numbers are useless. Along comes her Hairy Godmother who shows Spinderella to a classroom at the school where she lives and Spinderella learns how to count. The storyline and illustrations are very nicely done and both of my children love this book and being able to count along with the children and S's inside and as the book focuses on numbers and their importance even this Mummy with a slight bit of arachnophobia can read it with my little ones.

My children love being read to before bed and the longer the story the better. However, they were asking to change books halfway through and even I was a bit bored with this one. We finished it but have not read it again.

We are huge Julia Donaldson fans but this one isn’t great. I hid it after the first read. Probably ok for a child learning math who is school aged but not a toddler.

just started reading it to daughter and i love it already..looking forward to reading it all and enjoying it all good job Julia for another good book

These Julia Donaldson books never disappoint.

Very cute book! My son really enjoyed it!

A los niños les encanta!

I am not a fan of the S word (Spiders - it even creeps me out typing the name!) but I do love Julia Donaldson books and more importantly my children love them and I don't think we have had a 'dud' yet. I was a little cautious about buying this book because obviously by the picture on the front and the name Spinderella it's about my not so loved word beginning with S but the illustrator has actually almost made them look quite cute (I still make a point of not looking at some of their little fangs though and especially the Hairy Godmother) and the storyline and book itself is wonderful. I love that the book teaches the importance of counting and numbers and that there is also an opportunity for your little one to count up to 20 by counting the 20 children on the football team and then divide that into two to make 10 each. My son is currently struggling a little with his counting and so this book has been wonderful to reinforce the numbers up to 20 and more importantly both of my children love the book. We have the paperback version which is a good sized book measuring 24.5cm by 27.5cm. The book is not written in the usual rhyming style which most books like this tend to be which is nice for a change. The story tells of a little S called Spinderella who dreams of learning about numbers and how to count but her Mum and siblings are not interested and think that counting and numbers are useless. Along comes her Hairy Godmother who shows Spinderella to a classroom at the school where she lives and Spinderella learns how to count. The storyline and illustrations are very nicely done and both of my children love this book and being able to count along with the children and S's inside and as the book focuses on numbers and their importance even this Mummy with a slight bit of arachnophobia can read it with my little ones.

Finally got this book, simply awesome ...