Luigi, the Spider Who Wanted to Be a Kitten: (A Heartwarming Picture Book about Friendship and Self-Acceptance for Kids Ages 4-8) -- Michelle Knudsen, Hardcover

From the New York Times best-selling creators of Library Lion comes a warm (and delightfully fuzzy) storybook about learning to be--and be loved for--exactly who you are.

On a street of old houses, a big hairy spider is searching for a home with dark corners to hide in. But when he wakes up, he finds a hand reaching for him and a lady proclaiming that she has always wanted a kitten--and will name him Luigi! At first, a somewhat puzzled Luigi, used to being left alone to creep and dangle and spin webs, resists her kind advances. But soon, tasty breakfasts and getting tucked into bed (no one's ever wished him good night before) have him thinking that kittens surely live magical lives. I will be a kitten! he decides. But how long can he keep up his facade, and what might be at stake in pretending to be someone you're not? The award-winning duo behind Library Lion delivers another classic in the making, marked by humor and depth, endearing characters, and the assurance that the right people will accept and adore us, unconditionally, just as we are.

Author: Michelle Knudsen
Publisher: Candlewick Press (MA)
Published: 03/05/2024
Pages: 40
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.19lbs
Size: 10.08h x 11.42w x 0.47d
ISBN: 9781536219111
Audience: Ages 4-8

Review Citation(s):
Bulletin of Ctr for Child Bks 01/01/2024
Publishers Weekly 12/11/2023
Kirkus Reviews 02/01/2024
Booklist 02/15/2024 pg. 58
School Library Journal 01/26/2024 pg. 1
BookPage 03/01/2024

About the Author
Michelle Knudsen is the New York Times best-selling author of Library Lion, illustrated by Kevin Hawkes; Argus, illustrated by Andr饌 Wesson; Big Mean Mike, illustrated by Scott Magoon; and Marilyn's Monster, illustrated by Matt Phelan, as well as the Trelian middle-grade fantasy trilogy and the Evil Librarian YA horror-comedy trilogy. She lives in Brooklyn, New York, and is terrified of spiders.

Kevin Hawkes is the award-winning illustrator of more than fifty acclaimed picture books, including the New York Times best-selling Library Lion by Michelle Knudsen, Me, All Alone at the End of the World by M. T. Anderson, The Librarian Who Measured the Earth by Kathryn Lasky, and Sidewalk Circus and Weslandia by Paul Fleischman. He is also the acclaimed author-illustrator of both picture books and chapter books. Kevin Hawkes lives in Maine.