Westly: A Spider's Tale by Bryan Beus

Westly is really excited.  It's time for the cocoons to hatch and he'll be a beautiful Monarch butterfly like his father the king.  He can then take on his princely duties and ready himself for his upcoming kingship.  That's all ruined when the cocoon cracks open and he suddenly has eight legs and no wings...

Shadow Mountain and Edelweiss gave the me the opportunity to read this book (thank you).  It will be published September 29th so you can get a copy then.

This is tale of friendship, lessons learned, and disaster, too.  Poor Westly doesn't even know what he is, he just knows that he's not a butterfly.  They eject him from the butterfly haven because he's different.  He's black, he's not like them, and they don't want him around.  Not even his father...

The animals on the ground refuse to let him join them unless he works for the common good.  The first day is a disaster and they don't feed him.  The more he tries to help, the worse it gets.  So he wanders off and pouts in a far away corner.  Then someone starts talking to him.  It's a raven.  The raven informs him he's a spider.  He even shows him how to use his cobweb.  Soon he's getting along better with the others because he's discovered his talent.  But all is not sweetness and light.  The raven has an ulterior motive.

This is an exciting story with a wonderful ending.  Well, not for the raven, but so?  I enjoyed reading this story and I believe most children will, too.  A happy insect kingdom is a wonderful thing.