Review: Westly: A Spider's Tale

Are you a fan of bugs? Insects? Aracnids? I would highly recommend Westly: A Spider’s Tale.

Westly is the prince of butterflies. Westly and his caterpillar friends are ready to become butterflies. The butterflies hold a special ceremony for the cocoon creations as well as the big butterfly rebirth. Westly is ready to be a butterfly prince! He emerges from his cocoon to the horror of his fellow friends, family, and subjects. What is this? Who is this? Westly escapes the chandelier of the butterflies and jumps to the earth. The gardeners (bugs from below) take in Westly and he learns to become a useful member of their society. He also meets a raven who befriends him and teaches him about being a spider.

I was interested in Westly, because I kept seeing this title around the web and in magazines. Initially, I didn’t think much of the subject of bugs, but as I listened it gave me the creepy crawlies. It’s a book on bugs! Charlotte’s Web is about bugs, but I also read that book at a much younger age. I believe kids will love this book. There are not many chapter books about bugs and it’s well written with a nice array of insects in the menagerie. It was an excellent book about working together - as individuals as well as a group.  Working together helps everyone in the group and everyone in the group has a special talent to add to the group.

Ramon de Ocampo is the narrator for Westly. This is the first time I've heard Ramon de Ocampo. His voice (and character voices) fit well with the story. The book is juvenile fiction and he had a youthful voice for many of the characters. He differentiated well between characters. I also liked how the Mr. Raven was so oily. The raven was friendly, but you could hear that Mr. Raven had another goal in mind rather than just friendship. Well done! Yes, I would listen to Ramon de Ocampo again. 

Are you familiar with another buggy chapter book? Let me know! Leave a comment with the title and author below.

Reviewed from an Audiobook Jukebox copy. Thank you, Blackstone Audio!

Audio Book Details...
Westly: A Spider's Tale by Bryan Beus
Read by Ramon de Ocampo
Produced by Blackstone Audio
Number of Discs: MP3 download (21 parts)
Total Time: 4 hours, 2 minutes
Release Date: September 2015
ISBN: 9781504663830